


Family.

by Jind0r1



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: 2jin - Freeform, F/F, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Love at First Sight, Romantic Fluff, True Love, lipsoul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29607675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jind0r1/pseuds/Jind0r1
Summary: For years, Yerim has been finding the true meaning of ‘Family’. Just as she thinks she’ll not be able to do it, Hyejoo comes and shows her the long-awaited answers to her question and a place to call home.
Relationships: Choi Yerim | Choerry/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Family.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey readers! How are you doing? I'm sorry I took such a long time to write this Hyerim fic but I hope the wait is worth it! I've gone through so many rewrites for this story so I hope you'll enjoy this fic a lot :D Thank you so so much for all the love and support every one of you have given to me, I appreciated it a lot! Please let me know how you feel after the end of this story by commenting and leave a kudos too! Enjoy!

-

For many years, Yerim has been finding the meaning behind the two words, 'Family' and 'Home'. Those two words that she holds onto strongly but she doesn’t know the meaning behind them; they confuse her. The way the netizen defines 'Family' and 'Home' is not how she defines them. However, she’s not able to put a word onto her definition of those words.

Whenever she goes stargazing at night on top of her rooftop, she’ll place both her palms together and make the same wish that she’s been wishing on for as long as she can remember.

_Let me find out what ‘family’ really means._

_Please._

_I just want to know what…_

_Family means._

Yerim is going about her day when she suddenly receives a call from her cousin, Chaewon, who calls her unnie. Yerim picks up the call and her heart drops when she hears Chaewon sobbing and begging her to come back to Korea quickly because of her ill grandmother. Without hesitation, Yerim packs up her luggage and makes her way to the airport. 

It’s a long and tortuous journey, from the sudden strong turbulence mid-flight, but she reached Korea in one piece. Yerim picks up her luggage from the baggage collection area and steps out of the check-in point, she passes the automatic doors of the airport terminal. Her eyes squint under the afternoon sun shining in her eyes, she quickly wears her sunglasses to help her see better under the sun. A soft sigh escapes her mouth. She’s finally back at the place which she was finally able to run away from many years ago.

Yerim is just about to head to the car park to wait for Chaewon to pick her up, she hears a peal of melodic laughter coming from her right. She turns to the source of the sound and the corners of her mouth go up. The sight of a young mother scooping up her child into her arms as she whispers sweet love words into their ear. The young father joins in shortly after for a group hug.

Her hands subconsciously go up to her arms, she gives them a soft squeeze to mimic the hug. Yerim wishes that she’s that child in the mother’s arms. The loving feeling from that hug is something that she longs for many years. She could only watch in envy at the side as she wished for something that wouldn’t happen ever.

Turning away from the family, Yerim grabs her luggage and makes her way to the car park. She walks around for a bit to clear her mind before stopping at the car park. She takes a seat at one of the chairs placed in the lobby of the car park, she waits patiently for Chaewon to pick her up. Just then, a vibration coming from her pocket catches her attention. Pulling out her phone to check her text messages, she clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth when she sees one of them coming from her cousin. 

_‘Hey! I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, can you go home without me?’_

Yerim sends a text message to the girl, _‘It’s alright, I’ll take the taxi home.’_

She stands up and makes her way to the airport. Her mind shows her places to go other than home. She doesn’t want to go home just yet, it’s too soon for her. 

_‘Home’_

_A place that she dreads to go._

_A place she doesn’t call home because she’s not part of the family._

_She’s just an outsider._

_And will always be._

She takes a seat at the bench at the taxi-stand and waits for a taxi patiently. Once a taxi comes, Yerim wants to board it when she hears a horn from behind the taxi. She turns to the car and sees the window rolling down to reveal a smiling Chaewon who is waving her hands at her. Yerim grabs her luggage and makes her way to the girl, “I thought you won’t be able to make it?”

“Well, my econ class took longer than I expected,” Chaewon explains as she gets out of her car to help Yerim put her luggage in the trunk. “It ended right in time for me to rush down to pick you up, hope you didn’t wait too long.”

“no, I didn’t wait long. Thanks for wanting to pick me up,” Yerim thanks the girl and shut the trunks. The two of them get into their seat before they drive away from the airport terminal. Yerim’s favourite song plays softly in the background while the two savours each other’s company in peace.

“Thanks for coming back,” Chaewon says, breaking the silence in the car. 

“yeah,” Yerim hums out her reply, not knowing what to say.

“Mom and dad cleaned your room for you,” Chaewon informs as she changes the lane, one that brings them to their home. The home that Yerim dreads and is afraid to go back to but Chaewon doesn’t need to know. 

“Oh…” Yerim trails off, not wanting to talk about her ‘parents’. Chaewon takes a glance at Yerim through the rear mirror, she sees the discomfort on the girl’s face. 

“I’m sorry,” Chaewon apologies. “I just wanted to let you know that everyone at home really wants you to come back to us. We missed a lot, especially mom.”

_Mom…_

_‘Mom’…_

“She’s not my mom,” Yerim wants to reply but she can’t bring herself to say it. Instead, she chooses to keep quiet at that newfound information. 

“She hasn’t stopped talking about you after you leave. Every day she checks her phone to see if you have replied to her text messages,” Chaewon continues. “Yeojin too. She loves you more than me. She’ll tell me that she doesn’t listen to anyone other than you and mom, it drives me and dad crazy sometimes.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Yeojin,” Yerim whispers out as she turns to stare out the window. It has been ten years since she has left unexpectedly. All she left was a note to say sorry before all her clothes in the wardrobe were gone. Everyone went on their search for Yerim but only to find out that the girl had left the country through a text message to Chaewon. 

“I can’t wait to spend the night with you today, I bet Yeojin is excited about it too!”

“I don’t wish to go back today,” Yerim says softly and Chaewon hears it. The girl’s smile drops from her face and her hold around the steering wheel tightens. She’s going to respect Yerim’s decision, she has no idea why her favourite older sister is running away from them but she’ll wait for Yerim to tell her the reason. 

“By the way, Grandma misses you a lot. She’s over the moon when I told her you’re coming back,” Chaewon informs, trying to change the topic and ease the sudden tension in the car. 

“really?” Yerim questions as she turns to look at Chaewon with a shock expression. A smile returns on Chaewon’s face. Chaewon nods her head and continues, “She has never stopped talking about you the moment she finds out you’re coming back to see her.”

“Is she still staying alone?” 

“Yeah, do you wanna go there instead?” Chaewon asks, picking up on Yerim’s hint. 

“yes please, I’ll love to go there.” Yerim thanks the girl, glad that Chaewon understands her hints.

Chaewon nods her head and changes lane. Stepping on the accelerator, Chaewon drives onto the highway to head to their grandmother’s home. Yerim leans her head against the headrest, her muscles relax. She shut her eyes, hoping to catch a short nap before she greets her grandmother cheerfully.

-

A shake on the shoulder jots Yerim up from her nap. She rubs her eyes tiredly and lets out a yawn. Yerim looks around and realises she has reached the streets that she grew up in. It’s been years and things haven’t changed; it seems as though everything is stuck in the past. Yerim wonders if that’s a good thing. Stepping out of Chaewon’s car, she takes in a deep breath. A contented sigh escapes her mouth. 

“Welcome back,” Chaewon grins as she stands next to Yerim with her luggage. Yerim raises an eyebrow at the girl before pulling the girl into an unexpected hug. Chaewon’s taken aback by surprise but she quickly returns the hug, holding the girl tight. Yerim let out a soft chuckle at that, she pats Chaewon’s head before pulling away. 

The two of them make their way into the apartment building and step into the elevator. Yerim goes to push the button ‘8’ and leans against the walls of the elevator as they move up. Chaewon looks at Yerim and lets out a snort, “are you that tired?”

“yeah, feeling very jet-lagged…” Yerim replies as she massages her temples. Chaewon shakes her head at the girl before passing the girl a small bag of medication.

“Mom knew you’ll be jet-lagged so she asked me to pass you this,” Chaewon says as she watches Yerim stare at the bag. Yerim takes the bag from Chaewon and opens the bag to find her favourite sweets inside amongst the medication. A small smile forms on her face, her ‘mom’ knows her too well.

“Whenever you’re ready Yerim, we’ll always be welcoming you back with open arms.” 

Yerim nods her head and the ding from the elevator signals that they’ve reached the 8th floor. The two of them walked down the familiar hallway and stopped at the familiar wooden oak door which still has New year decoration stickers on it. Yerim’s knuckles knock against the wooden door and it didn’t take a while for the door to open to reveal her frail-looking grandmother.

“Yerim!” her grandmother gasps as she quickly rushes to the girl. Yerim feels herself getting pulled down into her grandmother’s tight hug. She quickly returns the hug and rubs her hand up and down the old woman’s back as she hears her sob quietly.

“you’re back,” her grandmother cries out as she pats Yerim’s back. 

“yeah,” Yerim chokes out, trying not to cry. 

Chaewon watches the beautiful reunion unfold in front of her, her heart stings a little. She knows how long her grandmother has waited for her favourite grandchild to be back. She wipes away the tears that rolled off the corner of her eyes. Pulling back from the hug, Yerim sees an ‘angry’ look on her grandmother’s face. 

“What took you so long to want to come back! Do you know how long I waited for you?!” Her grandmother scolds her lightly as she holds Yerim’s hand tightly in hers, she’s never going to let go of them after knowing that Yerim will leave if she does that.

“I’m sorry that I took so long, I had to sort out my own feelings. I’m back now! I won’t leave anymore,” Yerim apologises. Her grandmother nods her head and goes to caress Yerim’s face, something that she hasn’t been able to do for a very long time.

“I won’t leave again.”

“Promise?” her grandmother asks and Yerim pauses in her act. 

“yeah…”

-

“stay for dinner wonwon,” Yerim’s grandmother says as she sees the girl walk out of Yerim’s room hurriedly. Chaewon smiles at her and shakes her head, “mom has cooked my share for dinner already, I have to go back and eat!” 

“Alright, stay safe okay?” Chaewon nods her head and smiles at the older woman. She quickly slips her feet into her shoe. An act that was caught by Yerim. Yerim shakes her head at the girl’s laziness to wear her shoe properly, no wonder the back of all of Chaewon’s shoe is always creased. 

“Stay safe!” Yerim yells in the hallway. Chaewon shows Yerim a ‘thumbs up’ before bidding the girl goodbye. Yerim stays in the hallway for a while more before she turns to look at the black door next to her grandmother’s place. Must be a new neighbour. She heads back into the cosy three-room flat and sees her grandmother already in the kitchen.

“Are you cooking?” Yerim asks the most obvious question despite already knowing that her grandmother is going to cook by how the lady is mid-way into wearing her apron. 

“no, I want to water the plants.”

Yerim lets out a scoff and shakes her head at her grandmother. She grabs the frying pan from her grandmother’s hand and says, “let me join you.”

Her grandmother cheers loudly as she walks quickly to the fridge to take out the ingredients to cook Yerim’s favourite food. Yerim smiles at the older woman before she goes to help prepare the ingredients. Laughter and Scolding can be heard coming from the kitchen. Though Yerim is now nearing her late twenties, her grandmother still can’t trust her using a knife. Yerim just nods her head to go along with her grandmother as she watches the girl teach her how to cut vegetables properly.

Unknowingly, two hours have passed. Yerim comes out from the kitchen with a piping hot pot of soup in her hands. She quickly places it down on the table before blowing it on her fingertips. Her grandmother walks out calmly with a plate of sweet and sour pork in one hand and a plate of stir-fried vegetables. Yerim runs back to the kitchen to grab two bowls of rice before joining her grandmother at the dining table.

“Thanks for the meal,” Yerim cheers as she grabs her chopsticks. She’s ready to grab a piece of the sweet and sour pork when her grandmother stops her chopsticks. She turns to her grandmother with a pout on her face and questions the older woman on why she stopped her in her movement. 

“I want to pack some for my kind neighbour that lives next door,” her grandmother says as she leaves the table to grab some Tupperware box from the kitchen to pack the food. Yerim rests her chin on her palm as she watches her grandmother pack the food up for the neighbour. 

“Go bring it to the kind neighbour.” Yerim sits up straight when she sees her grandmother pass her the bag containing the food. A groan escapes her mouth as she stands up, she grabs the bag and walks out of the house. She stands in front of the black wooden door and knocks on the door but there’s no answer. She knocks again, no answer. 

“Hello? Anyone home?!” Yerim yells as she knocks on the door. She waits for a moment but still, there’s no answer. She frowns, she knocks again harder and yet again no answer. Yerim walks back to her grandmother’s flat and tells her that her neighbour isn’t home.

“Just hang it on the doorknob, she’ll come and get it.” 

Yerim shrugs her shoulder and does what she’s told. Before she turns to leave, she gives the black wooden door one last look. She wonders who live in that flat and what’s their relationship with her grandmother. The growling of her stomach catches her attention and she quickly jogs back to her grandmother’s flat; she can’t be bothered because her mind is now plagued with hunger.

After a hearty dinner, Yerim walks out of her bathroom and plops down onto her bed with her wet hair. Sleeping with wet hair is something she shouldn't do especially at her grandmother's place. The older woman will give her an earful if she sees it. 

_“Sleeping with wet hair isn’t good for you! You’ll get headaches!” The older woman scolds as she roughly dries Yerim’s hair. Yerim nods her head and tries to not cry at her sufferings. Her grandmother doesn’t care if she’s pulling out Yerim’s hair in the process, as long as the girl’s hair is dry that’s what she’ll do to get to that._

_“So, don’t come complaining to me about a headache!”_

That thought sends shudders down Yerim’s spine. She quickly sits back up and dries her hair using her hair towel provided for her by her grandmother. Her mind drifts to her grandmother’s neighbour, she wonders what they look like. 

“Must be good friends with grandma for her to deliver dinner to them,” Yerim thought out loud as she stared out the window. She wonders if her neighbour is home at that time, so she stands up on her feet and rushes to the window. 

Peering out from her window, a disappointed sigh escapes her mouth when she didn’t see lights coming out from the window. Suddenly, a cold breeze rushes past her and it makes her shiver. She quickly shut the windows and lay on her bed, they’re still the same. She shut her eyes and before long she’s fast asleep. 

-

Standing in front of the supermarket with her sunglasses on. Yerim is glad she wore them today, if not she’ll scare the living daylights out of people because of how zombie-like she looked. It’s barely one in the afternoon and her grandmother has woken her up to go groceries shopping. She’s scheduled to wake up in another three hours for her to get the best effect of her beauty sleep, but she guesses not. 

Trudging into the supermarket, she grabs a trolley and starts shopping for the items stated on the shopping list. Yerim pushes the trolley around lazily as she drags herself in between rows after rows of cereals. Her hand reached for the sugar-coated cereal box before realising dawn upon her that she’s living with her grandmother. Her hand moves away and towards the oats, she grabs a box and throws it into the trolley before she goes to the dairy section. 

An hour has gone by. Yerim is finally out of the supermarket, but her shopping trip has yet to end. She now has to go to the local mart. A groan escapes her mouth as she boards the bus to go to the local mart to grab the stuff her grandmother needs. Her grandmother told her that she needs to go to the local mart because the items sold there are different from those sold at the supermarket. Not believing her grandmother's words, Yerim decides to go there to see for herself.

Her jaw drops when she arrives at the place. It is not a mart; it is a market. Shops lined up at the side, forming a narrow walkway in the middle. Some stalls sell traditional cuisines while some sold grilled fish. Yerim walks towards the entrance of the market. Her nostrils are getting filled with the delicious smell of spicy rice cake. Her feet start moving and she is venturing deeper into the market. After making a few pits stops here and there to get the items on the list, she finally makes her way to a spicy-rice cake restaurant.

-

The ringing of the bell is heard in the empty spicy rice cake restaurant. Yerim looks around and sees no one at the counter. She takes a seat and flips through the menu to see what dishes catch her attention. 

Haseul, who is in the kitchen, hears the bell and peeps her head outside to see Hyejoo still sitting at the counter playing her games. Haseul frowns and balls up her hand to hit Hyejoo’s head. Hyejoo lets out a yelp and glares at her boss, “why did you hit me!”

“There’s a customer outside!” Haseul hisses as she uses her chin to point towards Yerim looking through the menu. Hyejoo rolls her eyes and stands up from her seat behind the counter to tend to Yerim. She turns to Haseul and gives the girl the friendliest smile that she can muster. Haseul cringes at that and quickly returns to the kitchen.

Hyejoo rolls her eyes and plaster a smile on her face as she walks towards Yerim with a paper and a pen in her hand. She approaches the girl and asks, “can I have your order?”

“Uh…” Yerim starts, “I don’t know what I should have, do you have any suggestions?” 

“You can have the cheese spicy rice cake; it helps to lower the spice if you can’t take them.” Yerim nods her head when she sees Hyejoo pointing at the picture of the cheesy spicy rice cake. 

“I think I’ll have that then.” Hyejoo nods her head and returns to the kitchen to tell Haseul the customer’s orders.

“She’s a pretty customer,” Haseul suddenly speaks up. Hyejoo looks up from her phone and sees Haseul cooking the cheesy spicy rice cake. 

“uh yeah,” Hyejoo nods her head, not caring whether the customer is pretty or not. Haseul lets out a snort and turns her head to Hyejoo, “aren’t you going to talk to the girl or hit on her?”

“no?” Hyejoo frowns, “she’s our customer. Why would I hit on her?”

“well, I think she might just be your type,” Haseul says as she shrugs her shoulder before going back to cook Yerim’s order. Hyejoo stands up and peers out from the kitchen, she watches Yerim look around their store with fascinated eyes. She walks past the kitchen door and makes her way towards Yerim, her hand grabs the water bottle and a cup along the way.

“Here you go,” Hyejoo says as she places them down on the table. “It’s free of charge and free flow.” 

Yerim thanks the girl and quickly pours herself a cup of water to drink. Hyejoo nods her head and wants to walk away when Yerim calls out for her.

“hey, do you know any fun place to explore around here?” Yerim asks.

Hyejoo purses her lips together and takes a seat in front of Yerim, “it’s a mature neighbourhood here so there’s not really much to explore unless you want to go café hopping.”

“oh, that’s fine as well!” Yerim smiles, as long as she has somewhere to go to, she’s fine with any. Hyejoo nods her head and pulls out another paper from her pocket to scribble down the address to the café that she frequents. 

“How old are you by the way? You look young to be working at such a place,” Yerim asks as she watches Hyejoo write down the address. 

“I’m 28 years old,” Hyejoo says as she passes the paper to Yerim. She nods her head when the girl thanks her and is about to leave when Yerim calls out for her again.

“I’m Yerim.” Hyejoo turns back and sees Yerim smiling at her with a hand outstretched. Hyejoo takes Yerim’s hand and gives it a small shake, “I’m Hyejoo.”

“Alright! Sorry to spoil your moment, your spicy rice cake is here ma’am!” Haseul’s loud voice snaps Hyejoo and Yerim out of their little moment. Hyejoo pulls her hand away quickly and walks back to the counter where she’s stationed. Yerim quickly goes to stuff her face with the spicy rice cake. The two of them are trying to shake off the unfamiliar yet comforting feeling they have when they held each other’s hand. Ignoring the sudden skip of a heartbeat when their eyes meet as they shook each other's hands.

-

After paying for her meal, Yerim decides to head home. It's a long bus ride to get home. So, the moment Yerim reaches home, she drops the groceries on the dining table before she jumps on the sofa to rest. Her grandmother walks out from the balcony and slaps Yerim's butt, which got the girl to sit up on the sofa, "You're a youngster and yet you're acting like me!"

"It's been a long time since I've gone on such groceries shopping," Yerim yawns and goes to rest her head on her grandmother's lap. Her favourite position is lying down on the couch. 

She misses doing that. She's grateful that her grandmother hasn't pushed her off the couch for doing that, she must have missed that too. When Yerim was younger, she liked to do that with her grandmother. However, her grandmother doesn't like it as much so she'll push Yerim away to get the girl to stop doing that.

"Is living alone overseas difficult?" Her grandmother asks and this makes Yerim's heart drop. Her grandmother watches her sit up slowly and pulls her knee up to her chest to hug them. Yerim rests her chin on her knee as she thought about her answer.

"Nope," Yerim lies with a forced smile on her face. She pulls her grandmother's hand to her and goes to massage the wrinkled and crooked hand. 

_'I was homesick'_

"It must be tough on you," her grandmother coos as she pulls Yerim into her hug. Yerim nods her head and feels tears forming in her eyes. 

"It's okay. I'm back now, that's what matters." Her grandmother lets out a soft sigh after hearing Yerim's words. Her hand goes to pat Yerim's head and lightly scratches the girl's scalp. Yerim hums out and closes her eyes, savouring the hug that she's sharing with her grandmother. 

A few hours passed and Yerim finally woke up from her late afternoon nap. She must have slept in her grandmother's arm. The pair of arms that cared for her since she was born. The pair of arms radiated the most comfortable warmth. The pair of arms make Yerim feel at ease and loved. It's those pairs of arms that make Yerim feel at home. She stands up and heads to the dining table, her eyes see the dinner that's left on the table for her. Yerim smiles at that and her eyes catch sight of a bag with a note stapled to it.

_'This is the neighbour's share! pass it to the kind neighbour.'_

Yerim frowns at that, does her grandmother send dinner to her neighbour every day? 

She wonders who her grandmother's neighbour is. Is her neighbour an old woman or an old man? Is her neighbour penniless?! and is staying at someone else's home?! Shivers went down Yerim's spine at the thought of that. Nonetheless, she picks up the bag of food and heads outside. She has her head down, so she doesn't see a figure standing in front of the black door. A yelp escapes Yerim's mouth when her head hits against the figure's back. She stumbles back and rubs her head; she looks up and her eyes widen at the familiar sight.

“It’s you!”

“Hyejoo?!” 

The two of them gasp as they point their fingers at each other. The two of them didn’t expect to see each other this soon after their first encounter at the spicy rice cake restaurant. Hyejoo scratches the back of her neck while Yerim looks away as the two have no idea what to say to each other. 

“Right, I’m here to give you this.” Hyejoo looks up and sees Yerim holding out a bag to her. She takes the bag from the girl and her eyes light up when she sees what’s inside the bag. 

“Wait up,” Hyejoo says as she quickly opens her door and rushes into her flat. Yerim nods her head and waits outside, her back leaning against the door. Hyejoo comes out shortly after with two bags in her hand, “return this to your grandmother. She’s a nice person to provide dinner for me every day, I can’t thank her enough for this.” 

“You don’t have enough money for food?” Yerim wonders.

“No,” Hyejoo laughs out, “I have money, but your grandmother offered me food after she hears that I miss home-cooked meals.”

“oh…” Yerim trails off softly and sees Hyejoo smile awkwardly at her. 

“That’s because I don’t live with my family anymore,” Hyejoo explains as she sees Yerim nodding her head at her with an unreadable expression. Before she can say a word, Yerim bids her goodbye and leaves her standing alone at the doorway. 

Yerim drops the bag on the dining table before she makes her way to her room. She wonders if Hyejoo and her are in the same situation. She wonders if her reason and Hyejoo’s are similar since she doesn’t stay with her own family anymore. A soft sigh escapes her mouth as she plops down on her bed, her eyes focused on the moon in the sky as millions of thoughts flashed through her mind. Many didn’t help her fall asleep easily. However, one did. The memory of Hyejoo’s smile. 

-

Stepping out of her bathroom with her bath towel wrapped around her head, Hyejoo makes her way to the window. Her mind drifts towards Yerim. The look Yerim wears when she tells the girl that she doesn’t stay with her family anymore is imprinted in her mind. For a moment, Hyejoo could see pity in the girl’s eyes before it’s being replaced with something she couldn’t decipher. 

“She’s a weird one,” Hyejoo laughs to herself as she turns to look at her neighbour’s window.

She watches as the light stays on for a while before it’s gone. She nods her head and turns off her light before falling back on her bed. Closing her eyes, she lets sleep take over her as she tries to not think about her neighbour. Try to not think too much about those pairs of eyes that make her feel all tingling inside.

-

Standing in front of the café door with the address given to her in her hands, Yerim makes her way into the café. She’s greeted by the sweet smell of freshly ground coffee beans freshly brewed coffee. She makes her way to the counter and sees rows after rows of delicious cakes on display.

“Welcome to Sweet Café! What can I get for you today?” a cheerful cashier greets Yerim. 

Yerim smiles at the girl and orders a cup of ice Americano along with a slice of strawberry cake. She passes the girl her card for payment and waits for a while for her order to come to her.

“Are you new here?” the cashier asks Yerim, trying to strike a conversation with her. 

“yep,” Yerim smiles as she looks around the place.

“Our café is usually visited by our regulars so it’s not often we see a new face,” the cashier shares with Yerim. 

“I’m Heejin!” the cashier beams as she holds out her hand for Yerim.

“Yerim.” Heejin beams when she sees Yerim shaking her hand. 

“Here’s your order! I hope to see you more often,” Heejin smiles widely at Yerim as she passes the girl her order. Yerim lets out a chuckle and nods her head, she’s amazed by how sociable and friendly Heejin is. Just a smile from the girl can light up the whole room, no wonder a lot of people frequent this place.

Yerim spends an hour at the café as she slowly savoured the coffee and the cake that’s served to her. Just as she’s about to stand up and leave, her ears catch the loud squeal from the cashier.

“HYEJOO!!!!!”

Yerim turns her head to the door and her eyes meet her neighbour’s eyes. The two of them freeze in their spot as they look at each other. Heejin raises an eyebrow as she looks at the two of them. 

She leaves the counter and makes her way to Hyejoo, “You know her?”

Hyejoo peels her eyes off Yerim and turns to look at Heejin, “yeah.”

“Then aren’t you going to talk to her?!”

“What?” Hyejoo asks as she breaks eye contact with the girl to see Yerim fidgeting in her spot.

Heejin uses her lips and points towards Yerim standing at the back, “go talk to her if not get your ass and hers out of here to go on a date!”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Hyejoo hisses out, just loud enough for her and Heejin to hear. 

“Nope!” Heejin grins at Hyejoo and slips two ten-dollar note into Hyejoo’s coat pocket, “here’s some allowance for your date.”

“I’m not your kid nor is this a date!” Hyejoo hisses out softly and Heejin just ignores the girl.

“go go!” Heejin says as she pushes Hyejoo out of her café. Yerim’s eyes widen as she sees that, she quickly grabs her bag and rushes out of the café. Hyunjin’s eyes soften at that and feel an arm slide around her waist.

“Aeong,” Hyunjin meows out as she rests her head against her wife’s shoulder. “That brat came?”

“For the last time, Hyejoo is not a brat.”

“She wanted to dox me when I did nothing but breathe!” Hyunjin explains feeling flabbergasted. Heejin laughs and ruffles her wife’s hair, “there there it’s okay.”

“Can’t believe I married a kid,” Heejin comments and it makes Hyunjin pout.

“I’m glad brat got herself, someone,” Hyunjin says after awhile. Heejin nods her head and brings the two of them back to their station. A smile on both their faces as they feel proud of their best friend is getting a girlfriend. 

-

“I didn’t think you would go,” Hyejoo speaks up after a while. The two of them are now at the park, sitting at a random bench that they found. Yerim lets out a soft chuckle at that, “I can’t pass up the chance to go to a nice place.”

“Do you have any plans?” Hyejoo asks the girl. She sees Yerim tilting her head back to look at the tree that towers over her. She lets out a snort at the girl’s actions, she can’t believe the girl.

“Nope.” Yerim answers before looking at Hyejoo, “then what about you?”

“no plans either.” Yerim nods her head before going back to look at the tree.

“Where did you stay before coming back?” Hyejoo asks, trying to start a conversation with the girl.

“Overseas.” 

“where did you go?” Hyejoo asks curiously.

“Just travelling around to see the world, then found a place I like and settled there.” Hyejoo nods her head.

“Then why did you suddenly want to come back?”

“Came back for my grandmother,” Yerim says as she stretches her hand out to grab the leave that has fallen from the branch. She looks down at her hand and a soft sigh escapes her mouth. 

“Ahh...no wonder your grandmother never stopped talking about you when she hears that you’re coming back,” Hyejoo comments with a faint smile. She heard a lot about Yerim from her grandmother, she also remembers the days where her grandmother would cry about how much she misses Yerim.

“She misses you a lot too,” Hyejoo informs.

“Really?” Yerim whispers out softly to herself but Hyejoo hears it.

“Yeah…” Hyejoo replies softly, she sees Yerim’s mood going down from the sad look that she wears on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Pfft yeah? Of course, I am,” Yerim chortles at that question, why wouldn’t she be okay? Hyejoo watches Yerim stand up and stretch her limbs, her heartaches a little hearing Yerim’s words.

“Even If I’m not, I have to be right?” Hyejoo stops in her tracks, her heart stops at those. She looks at Yerim with pity eyes, she doesn’t know what to say to Yerim after that.

“Let’s go,” Yerim says as she waves her hand to get Hyejoo to follow after her. 

Hyejoo nods her head and walks alongside Yerim, her eyes focused on the girl’s side. She watches as Yerim tries to hide the sadness that is trying to show itself. Suddenly Yerim stops in her tracks and turns her head to Hyejoo. Hyejoo’s eyes widen at the sight of Yerim’s glistening eyes.

“I’ve been running away. I’ve been escaping from something that I hold onto dearly,” Yerim’s voice shakes as she speaks. 

“I’ve been running away from a group of people that I call family…because I found out I’m not their blood nor am I biologically related to them.” Hyejoo’s heart stops when she sees the lone tear escaping from the corner of Yerim’s eye. 

“Do you want to run away again after finishing what you wish to do with your grandmother?” Hyejoo asks as she reaches over to hold Yerim’s hand in hers. She sees Yerim shake her head, tears rolling off her cheeks.

“Then don’t run away anymore,” Hyejoo whispers out as she pulls Yerim into her hug. 

“I’ll be here to help you.”

Yerim nods her head and hugs Hyejoo tightly. Hyejoo feels her shoulder getting wet from Yerim’s tears but she doesn’t mind. As long as the girl feels better from her crying session, she wouldn’t mind going home with drenched shoulders.

-

After a few days since their encounter in the park, Hyejoo finds herself standing in front of Yerim’s door. She doesn’t really know why she’s standing there but she had the sudden urge to ask Yerim to go out for a drink and a talk, hoping to know the girl better. Heaving out a soft sigh, she reaches forward to knock on the door. It doesn’t take long before the door opens, revealing a half-awake Yerim in her pyjamas.

“Oh, you’re asleep,” Hyejoo gasps, feeling guilty for waking the girl up. 

“no-no, I just woke up from my afternoon nap…” Yerim yawns out as she rests against the doorframe. “You’re looking for me?”

“Yeah,” Hyejoo nods her head, she plays with her finger behind her back. 

Yerim raises an eyebrow and wants to speak when Hyejoo interrupts her, “I was wondering if you'd like to have a drink with me?” 

That offer makes Yerim stand up straight, “Why?”

“Uh…to talk to you?” Hyejoo says hesitantly, not knowing how to answer the girl. “Because I want to know you better.”

Yerim lets out a soft chuckle and nods her head at the girl, she tells the girl to give her a moment to change out of her pyjamas before joining her. Hyejoo nods her head and stands outside to wait for the girl. When Yerim comes back, Hyejoo walks Yerim to her place.

“make yourself feel at home,” Hyejoo says as she makes her way to her kitchen to pull out two cans of beer. 

Yerim nods her head and looks around the girl’s place. Her eyes widen at the sight of paintings, it’s all painted by the girl from the signature at the bottom. She never knew Hyejoo had a thing for art. As she ventures deeper into the house, she catches sight of the gaming set up in the study room. That’s more like the girl. Just then, she sees a small musical box and a worn-out teddy bear on the nightstand. 

When Yerim turns to head back to the living room, her eyes catch sight of a family portrait. Yerim raises an eyebrow at the photo. It’s a picture of Hyejoo standing next to an older woman who wears a small warm smile on her face. However, the happiness in their eyes makes Yerim’s heart swell.

“How’s your little tour?” Hyejoo questions with a soft chuckle as she passes a can of beer to the girl.

“Great,” Yerim smiles at Hyejoo and takes a seat on the sofa, a contented sigh escapes her mouth when she feels her muscles relax from the comfortable couch Hyejoo has. The two of them crack open their can of beer before drinking the bitter liquid. 

“Sorry if my house is bare, I don’t like to keep much stuff.”

“it’s fine, the place looks very cosy. Not too much stuff to take up too much space,” Yerim compliments Hyejoo’s place and it makes the girl smile proudly at her. Hyejoo leans her head against the headrest as she wonders how to talk to the girl. 

“I’m sorry for crying on your shoulders that day,” Yerim starts as she looks at her hands. She has no idea where to look but her hands.

“It’s okay,” Hyejoo starts as she turns to look at Yerim’s side feature. 

There it is again, the same look on the girl’s face. The look of sadness and longing. She wants to reach over to the girl and tell the girl that everything will be alright but she couldn’t do it because she doesn’t know what’s troubling the girl. 

"Is something troubling you?" Yerim asks with a soft chuckle, “You look very constipated.”

“uh…” Hyejoo looks up and scratches the back of her neck, she wonders how to ask Yerim a very personal question.

“Are you okay? It’s just every time we talk about family or home, you’ll wear this expression. A very sad expression if not it’s like a look of longing,” Hyejoo asks as she looks away. Yerim’s breathing stops. She looks down at her toes which curls up on the soft carpet, she doesn't know how to answer Hyejoo's question.

“It’s because I long for one,” Yerim starts softly. “I’ve grown up in my aunt’s family since I was a baby. Everyone treated me like one of their own and I feel like I’m part of them. It was until I found out a secret that I wasn’t supposed to know…” 

“What secret is that?” Hyejoo asks curiously, she couldn’t help it. Before she even stops herself, the question slips out of her mouth. 

“That I’m not my aunt’s biological child. I’m my aunt’s niece. My biological mother had the cheeks to want me back and told me that I’m not allowed to stay with my aunt. She goes to everyone in the family and tells them I’m her child but wouldn’t want to admit that I’m her own to outsiders when they ask. I’m always my aunt’s child. Instead of letting me live as my aunt’s child, she wants to tear the two of us apart. It was made worse when I can’t even stay with my aunt.”

Hyejoo frowns at that, how can a mother separate someone who has grown used to someone just like that. She shifts closer to the girl and wraps an arm around Yerim’s shoulder, letting the girl know that she’s here for her. 

“I’m just suddenly at a loss. I don’t know who I belong to. I don’t feel connected to my biological family and I don’t feel like I deserve to continue staying at my aunt’s place and call them family. It got so bad that I ran away from a family dinner where my aunt had a new year dinner with her in-laws. As much as they claimed that I’m part of them, nothing can change the fact that I’m not their family. Like what my mother says, I’m not one of them and they’ll not treat me like one when I grow older.” 

Hyejoo gives the girl a soft squeeze on the shoulder. Her beer is already discarded aside on the table as she focuses her attention on the crying girl in her arms. Yerim's lips tremble as she shares with Hyejoo her story. Tears wouldn’t stop streaming down her face like that time after running away from the family dinner.

_She sits alone in the back of the bus. Tears kept forming in her eyes, she couldn’t stop it. Her head hung low causing her hair to fall to form a curtain between her and the other passengers seated in front. Her tears dropped onto her phone screen; she can barely see her text with her friends. Her chest tightens as she bites on her bottom lip, she can barely breathe properly._

_Yerim feels her heart getting torn apart when she reaches the restaurant for the family dinner. Chaewon and Yeojin were still young so they didn’t understand why Yerim ran away from them. Her aunt sees the visible discomfort on Yerim’s face and how the smile drops from the girl’s face when she tells the girl that her in-laws are joining them for dinner. Yerim feels out of place and uncomfortable, everyone wouldn’t have a proper dinner despite everything. She turns to leave, walking away quickly not bothering to bid anyone goodbye._

_As she walks to the bus stop, tears start forming in her eyes. She feels sad and angry. Angry at herself because she can’t even put up with a simple family dinner. Sad because she knows that such family dinners wouldn’t feel the same anymore like last time. She sat on the bus that brought her to her grandmother’s place. She quickly opens the door to see no one at home. No arms that she can go to for comfort. Yerim lost it. She leans her back against the closed door and slides down until her butt hits the ground. Her wails filled the empty house._

"I mean...I kind of understand your situation," Hyejoo starts softly.

“Hmm?” Yerim raises an eyebrow at the girl.

“I lost my mother when I was very young,” Hyejoo says softly, she picks on her nail nervously.

“I was raised by her best friend who looked awfully cold and hard on the outside but is the softest and most emotional person on the inside. She’s the only family I have, even though she’s not biologically my mother but she’s still my mother.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Yerim whispers out as she reaches over to hold Hyejoo’s hand tightly in hers.

“Hey it’s okay, I’m okay now.” Hyejoo turns to Yerim and says, “your grandmother helped me too you know?”

“When I moved away from my other mother, I felt so lonely. I missed home-cooked meals a lot and I’m glad your grandmother is here to help me. Who knew such a simple act of kindness from her could make me cry because the food has so much love put into cooking it,” Hyejoo chuckles at the time when she started crying to herself after she had Yerim’s grandmother’s cooking. She must have scared Yerim’s grandmother a lot by suddenly breaking down and hugging her tightly halfway into having dinner. 

“After that, your grandmother has been looking out for me. It feels as though I’m her grandkid, I feel like I’ve been adopted into your family. That’s her power huh? It’s amazing,” Hyejoo adds on with a small smile. She turns to Yerim and sees the girl looking at her with a small smile too, she must be feeling proud of her grandmother.

“Yeah, she’s really the one who makes me feel at home. She’s my pillar of support and someone I can count on and cry on. She makes me feel like I’m one of her own and tells me that I’m always one of them, I’m part of the family.” 

Hyejoo smiles wider at that and pushes Yerim’s head down so it can rest on her shoulder. She pats on the girl's head as she lets the girl sob quietly. Her other hand reaches over and removes the can of beer in between Yerim’s hands before going to hold the girl’s hands tightly in hers. 

“You know… not necessarily you must be blood-related to someone to be their family.” Yerim hears Hyejoo’s words and unknowingly the girl’s words brought the comfort that she always wanted. She looks up and sees the girl looking right back at her with a small smile, the smile that she wears makes Yerim feel comforted too.

"Do you want a proper hug?" Hyejoo offers by spreading her arms wide open. 

Yerim nods her head and quickly hugs Hyejoo. A chuckle escapes Hyejoo's mouth as she hugs the girl. She can't believe she went from competing with the girl this morning to now hugging her tightly in her arms. However, she's not complaining as it has been a while since she's given someone such a hug. 

“You’re a good hugger,” Yerim compliments Hyejoo out of a sudden. This causes the two of them to erupt into a burst of laughter. 

“Then I’ll hug you more often if you want,” Hyejoo says as she tightens her hug around Yerim’s hug. That act unknowingly causes butterflies to form in Yerim’s stomach and makes Yerim’s heart skip a beat. 

“Thank you.”

\- 

Yerim plops down on her bed, her mind drifting towards her neighbour. She chews on her nails and lets out a soft sigh when she remembers Hyejoo’s words.

_“You know… not necessarily you must be blood-related to someone to be their family.”_

“Hyejoo’s probably right,” Yerim whispers out as she leans back and falls onto her bed. 

Her hands go up to hug her arms, the warmth from Hyejoo’s hug coming back to her. Her face quickly turns red as she sits up, sudden realisation dawn on her. Hyejoo’s hug, those pairs of arms that wrapped around her, make her feel at ease. It makes her feel exactly like her grandmother’s hug. She feels at home. 

“No no no, Yerim no!” Yerim talks to herself as she shakes her head. 

Trying to shrug off those irrelevant thoughts and Hyejoo’s hug. She makes her way to her luggage and opens it up, she goes to pick up the family portrait of her and her aunt’s family. They all wear a big smile as they huddle up for a photo, she stands proudly next to her aunt. They were taking a photo during her graduation day. 

A soft sigh escapes her mouth as she places the family portrait on the nightstand. Yerim sits on the bed and stares out into the night sky, she wonders if she can ever face them like how the younger and clueless Yerim used to do. She’s all grown up now. The things that she shouldn’t know, have all become known to her. Patting on her bed, Yerim decides to call it a night as she doesn’t want to keep thinking about issues that will dampen her mood. 

-

It’s a Sunday afternoon and Yerim and her grandmother are having their brunch when they hear a knocking on the door. Yerim frowns at that and excuses herself from the table before going to the door to see who’s knocking on it. She opens the door and sees a red-faced Hyejoo who is holding a bag of food in her other hand.

“Had your lunch? Because if you haven’t, I brought you some.”

“Uh…” Yerim trails off, “I’m having brunch right now…”

“Oh,” Hyejoo’s eyes widened and quickly apologized to the girl for disturbing her mealtime.

“Wait!” Hyejoo pauses in her movement when she hears Yerim calling out for her.

“Come join us for brunch,” Yerim smiles at her and steps aside for her to come in.

“I can?” Hyejoo asks hesitantly and Yerim nods her head. The two of them step into the dining room and Yerim sees Hyejoo greet her grandmother with a smile on her face.

“Hyejoo is joining us for lunch, you don’t mind right?” Yerim asks her grandmother while she goes to the kitchen to grab a plate and utensils for Hyejoo.

“I don’t mind!” Yerim lets out a snort when she hears the excited tone her grandmother uses.

Hyejoo pulls out the food she buys for Yerim and places it on the table. She’s about to open the lid of the food container when Yerim’s grandmother asks her a sudden unexpected question.

“Hyejoo-yah, do you like Yerimmie?”

Hyejoo starts coughing as chokes on her saliva upon hearing Yerim's grandmother's blunt question. Yerim quickly passes Hyejoo a cup of water and watches the girl gulp down the water. Yerim’s grandmother lets out a laugh upon seeing the girl’s reaction while Yerim looks at the two of them with a confused look.

After a while, Hyejoo clears her throat and responds with a slightly red-face, “maybe.”

Yerim’s grandmother nods her head and turns to Yerim, she gives the confused girl a thumbs up before going back to her meal. Yerim looks at Hyejoo and nudges the girl’s arm, “what did my grandmother ask you?”

Hyejoo shrugs her shoulders, trying to stop a smile from crawling onto her face. Yerim squints her eyes at the girl before going back to enjoy her meal. The mealtime was filled with laughter from Hyejoo and a lot of story-telling of Yerim’s embarrassing moment when she’s a kid. Time flies by quickly as the sun has set and Yerim’s grandmother has retired to her room for the day leaving Yerim and Hyejoo alone in the kitchen. Hyejoo is helping Yerim to dry the wet dishes when she suddenly stops what she’s doing to ask Yerim a question.

“How do you plan on finding the meaning of ‘Family’?”

“I don’t know honestly,” Yerim says as she stops washing the dirty dishes. She rests her arms on the edge of the sink as she turns to Hyejoo, “Do you know away?”

“I…” Hyejoo trails off when she’s suddenly being questioned. She looks at Yerim for a moment before she looks away, the way Yerim’s staring at her makes it hard for Hyejoo to speak properly.

“I want to be by your side and show you the meaning of family that you’ve been looking for and a place to call home,” Hyejoo says as confidently as she can. She sees Yerim standing up straight with wide eyes.

“Family is created by bonds. Bonds are formed through close interaction with people you love regardless if you are related by blood or not. I want to help you find that bond back and form new bonds with you together,” Hyejoo continues as she takes a step forward towards Yerim.

“Hyejoo,” Yerim trails off, her heart pounding quickly when she hears Hyejoo’s words. Her stomach does a flip when she feels Hyejoo holding her hand tightly in hers.

“Why?” Yerim questions softly.

“Because I think I’m starting to like you and I don’t want to see you so hurt and bothered about it again. I want to be here for you and protect you,” Hyejoo whispers out as she looks at Yerim with nothing but sincerity in them. Hyejoo’s words tug on Yerim’s heartstrings and it makes the girl’s heart skip a beat. Yerim sees the blush Hyejoo wears on her face from the sudden confession and she fights back the urge to tease the girl about it.

“Thank you,” Yerim says as she pulls Hyejoo into her tight hug. She feels Hyejoo tightening her hold and she lets out a chuckle, she’s starting to love Hyejoo’s hug more. The hug Hyejoo gives her makes her feel so much at ease, it’s crazy how she barely knows Hyejoo but their interaction makes it feel like they’ve known each other for such a long time.

-

It’s early in the afternoon when the two of them arrive at the amusement park. Yerim turns to Hyejoo who is buying tickets for them, she wonders why they are here. She makes her way to the girl and pulls Hyejoo aside when the girl gets their tickets.

“Why are we here?”

“To cheer you up!” Hyejoo grins as she goes forward to hold Yerim’s hand in hers. Looking down at their hand, Hyejoo continues, “and also because I’ve always wanted to visit the amusement park with someone special.”

“Me? Special?” Yerim laughs as she points at herself and Hyejoo nods her head quickly, “you are special, to me of course.”

“You’re such a sweet talker,” Yerim comments and ruffles Hyejoo’s hair. She lets out a chuckle when she sees Hyejoo’s eyes crease from smiling too wide, it makes her smile wider unconsciously too.

The two of them walk into the amusement park hand-in-hand. Hyejoo swings their hand when they walk, that little skip Hyejoo has when she walks makes Yerim let out a chuckle. Hyejoo turns to the girl and frowns, “what are you laughing at?”

“you,” Yerim smiles, “you’re soo excited.”

“really? I’m that obvious?” Hyejoo asks with a red face, her other hand goes to scratch the back of her neck. Yerim lets out a scoff and pinches Hyejoo’s cheeks, earning her a soft growl from the girl.

“Let’s go on that ride!” Yerim says as she points at the merry-go-round. “I always wanted to go with my family members but never got to because of time.”

“Well then let’s go!” Hyejoo says as she tugs Yerim’s hand, the two of them make a run for the ride. The two of them stand together as they queue up for the ride. Hyejoo sees the sparkles in Yerim’s eyes as the girl watches the people enjoying themselves on the ride.

“Hey Yerim,” Hyejoo calls for the girl and it gets Yerim to turn to look at her. “Let’s go on all the rides that you wish to go on if your family is with you right now.”

“no,” Yerim frowns at that, “you want to come to the amusement park to have fun too!”

“I’m already having fun, just coming here to play with you.”

“Hyejoo…” Yerim frowns at the girl and Hyejoo just grins at her, showing the girl her white teeth. Before Hyejoo can say anything, she feels Yerim squishing her cheeks together.

“Hey! Stop that, I look ugly!” Hyejoo says in between the squishing of cheeks. Yerim just laughs at the girl before she stops, her hands still on Hyejoo’s cheeks. The two of them look at each other. For a moment they feel their heart skipping a beat before the two of them quickly let go of each other.

“Uhm…” Hyejoo clears her throat as she points at the sight of people exiting the ride, “it’s our turn now.”

“Right,” Yerim nods her head quickly, trying to hide her red face from Hyejoo.

The two get on the horses in the ride. They sit next to each other for the ride. Hyejoo would turn to Yerim with her phone in her hand and take a picture of the happy girl during the ride. She then flips the camera to face her before taking a quick we-fie of her and Yerim, she makes sure to remember to make it her new profile picture on kakao talk.

The two of them continue to go on more rides until the sunsets. Yerim stands next to Hyejoo as they watch the nightly firework show. Hyejoo has her phone out to snap photos of the beautiful fireworks that she fails to realise Yerim taking a photo of her. Yerim smiles to herself when she sees the photo of Hyejoo, she makes a folder on her phone and saves it there.

They continue watching until the show ends and it’s also a signal for them to head home. They walk out of the amusement park side by side, none of them speaks a word until they reach the train station. Hyejoo turns to Yerim topping up her transportation card before she says something, “Hey Yerim.”

“Yeah?” Yerim looks up after taking her transportation card. Before she can react, she feels Hyejoo dragging her into a photo booth that’s located a little further away from the train station.

“I want to take a picture with you,” Hyejoo says as she scrambles into the photo booth.

"Then why didn't you just say so?" Yerim laughs at the girl and enters the photo booth, she sees Hyejoo already sitting down on the only seat inside. Just as she plans to remain to stand, she feels Hyejoo holding onto her hand before she hears the girl ask her a question.

“Do you want to sit down?”

“no, it’s okay, you can sit instead.” Yerim smiles at the girl and reaches forward to feed three two-dollar bills into the machine.

“Do you want to sit here instead?” Hyejoo asks shyly as she pats on her lap. Yerim looks at the girl with wide eyes, she’s shocked by the girl’s confidence despite sounding so shy. She turns away and hides at the corner, hyperventilating to herself.

“Are you okay?!” Hyejoo asks worriedly, she wants to stand up to check on the girl when Yerim turns to her. She sees Yerim sit on her knees, afraid to move back to sit on the girl’s lap. Hyejoo raises an eyebrow at the girl’s action, she wraps an arm around Yerim’s waist and pulls the girl back so Yerim’s sitting on her lap. Yerim’s glad she has her back against Hyejoo, if not Hyejoo would see how red her face is.

“I can’t reach the screen; can you start the photo-taking?” Hyejoo asks as she tilts her head to the side to look at Yerim. Yerim quickly nods her head and reaches forward to tap on the ‘start’ shown on the screen. Hyejoo notices the tips of Yerim’s ears and neck turning red very quickly, she wonders if the girl’s feeling okay.

“Are you ready?” Yerim asks, interrupting Hyejoo’s thoughts. Hyejoo nods her head and tightens her hold around Yerim’s waist, hoping that doing that wouldn’t make Yerim fall off her lap. The two of them do silly faces as they take the photos. One time Yerim fake choking Hyejoo and Hyejoo pretends to be dead, it makes the two of them burst out laughing when they see the developed photo.

“Here’s your copy,” Yerim laughs as she passes Hyejoo the photo. Hyejoo eyes widen when she sees how Yerim edited her, she suddenly has an eye-patch and a moustache. She turns to the laughing girl and squints her eyes at the girl before tackling the girl into a tickle fight.

Yerim slaps Hyejoo’s shoulder as she tries to stop the girl from tickling her. Hyejoo does but the way Hyejoo holds Yerim makes the two of them blush. Hyejoo has one arm around Yerim’s waist while her other hand rests on the girl’s back. She quickly lets go of the girl and moves away, creating some distance between them.

“Let’s go home now,” Hyejoo says as she points at the train station. Yerim nods her head and walks behind the girl. They board the last train home quietly and never say a word to each other until they reach Yerim’s doorsteps. Hyejoo waves her hand awkwardly at the girl and wants to open her house door when Yerim calls for her.

“Thank you for today Hyejoo,” Yerim smiles at the girl before entering her house. Hyejoo smiles to herself and pumps both her fist in the arm before entering her house. A shy smile forms on Yerim’s face when she sees her grandmother sitting on the sofa with a playful grin on her face. She makes her to the old lady and shares about her day with Hyejoo to her. Unknown to Yerim, she has started to catch feelings for Hyejoo.

-

A soft grunt escapes Hyejoo’s mouth as she plops down on her bed, she turns to her bedside table and picks up the photo that she took with Yerim just now. A small smile appears on her face when she remembers their fun moment together today. Reaching over to hold her favourite teddy bear, she places the photo on the teddy bear’s chest.

“Hey mom, I went out with Yerim today and I had lots of fun with her. I hope you’re enjoying yourself up there too,” Hyejoo whispers out before she presses the button on the chest of the teddy bear and hears a soft ‘I love you baby’ coming from it. She wears a faint smile as she presses the button again.

“I hope you can be Yerim’s and my guardian angel and look after the two of us…” Hyejoo requests softly, she can faintly remember her mother holding her close to her as she tells her that she’ll be her guardian angel who will watch over her. She shut her eyes and placed both her palms together as she made a small wish before putting her stuff back on the table. 

A contented sigh escapes Hyejoo’s mouth once she opens her eyes, she places her stuff back on the table. She placed the photo close to the teddy bear, making sure it wouldn’t drop, before turning off the light. Hyejoo rests on her side and a small smile forms on her face as she drifts to sleep, “Night Yerim.”

-

Giggles and screams are heard from the playground when Hyejoo steps into the park with her favourite boy, Haseul’s pet dog, Simon. Her eyes light up upon the sight of the children running around as they play a game of tag, reminding her again just how much she loves kids. She really wishes one day she’ll have her own kids to play with, she’ll love to put them on her shoulders as they run around in the park.

“Simon,” Hyejoo calls out by shaking the leash. Simon looks up at Hyejoo and waggles his tail, making Hyejoo smile softly at him. She squats down and ruffles Simon’s fur before her hand goes to scratch Simon’s chin.

“Woof!”

“wah! who’s a happy boy,” Hyejoo coos as she watches Simon lay down on its back and she reaches over to ruffle Simon’s stomach. She’s so busy playing with Simon that she fails to see Yerim looking at her with heart eyes. Yerim walks towards Hyejoo and squats down next to the dog, her hand reaching over to tickle Simon’s stomach.

Hyejoo’s eyes widen when she looks up to see Yerim, she quickly moves her hand away so Yerim can pet Simon. She rests her chin on her palm as she watches Simon sniff Yerim’s hand before letting Yerim continue to tickle his stomach. A smile forms on her face at the sight of Yerim having fun playing with Simon, her mind drifting towards her own little fantasy of having her own pet so Yerim can come over to play with them.

“How old is your pet dog?” Yerim asks.

“My boy, Simon, here is 4 years old,” Hyejoo says proudly as she gets Simon to sit up to impress Yerim. It works because Yerim started clapping her hand ecstatically like a seal. She lets out a laugh and passes some treats to Yerim to feed Simon. Simon is enjoying the attention too because of the big smile on his face.

“Hi, Simon! I’m Yerim,” Yerim grins as she holds her hands out. Yerim’s eyes widen when she sees Simon placing his paws on top of her palm, she lets out a happy squeal.

“Since when did you have a dog?” Yerim asks out as she continues to play with Simon, she loves Simon already.

“Not really my dog, it’s Haseul but I treat him as my own,” Hyejoo says as she scratches Simon’s head before letting Simon lick her hands. Yerim lets out a soft laugh when Simon pounces on Hyejoo and licks the girl’s face.

“I can tell,” Yerim laughs out as she sees Hyejoo struggling to sit up.

“Where are you going?” Hyejoo asks when she sees Yerim wearing quite a formal attire. Yerim stands up and picks Simon up in her arms, she struggles to talk because of how Simon’s licking her face excitedly. The two of them completely ignored a sulking Hyejoo who’s watching the encounter with envious eyes at the side.

“Going out to meet my aunt and her family,” Yerim sighs out as she places Simon down, she watches Simon run around her leg excitedly.

“You don’t sound like you want to,” Hyejoo comments and Yerim lets out a soft chuckle, “I’m that obvious?”

“Yeah…” Hyejoo trails off.

“I’ll try to enjoy myself,” Yerim smiles at Hyejoo. Hyejoo frowns at the forced smile Yerim wears, she doesn’t say a word more and watches Yerim bid her goodbyes to Simon before walking away from them. She picks Simon up and turns to head back to Haseul’s restaurant.

“I hope everything goes well.”

-

Trudging into her room, Yerim plops down onto her bed. Her eyes threatened to close to how tired she is. The outing with her aunt exhausts her a lot. She must be getting old because she can barely keep up with Yeojin and Chaewon. Throughout the outing, Yerim keeps to herself. She doesn’t know what to say after running away suddenly, she left without a word that promises her return.

_After a filling dinner, Chaewon decides that they should all go for a walk in the park to digest their food. Everyone unanimously agreed and they made their way to the park. Throughout the walk, Yerim has been avoiding eye contact with her aunt. She doesn’t know how to talk to the girl. Even during their lunch, Yerim opted to sit beside her aunt so she wouldn’t have to meet eyes with her._

_Yeojin has been the one who is talking to Yerim a lot because she missed her favourite older sister a lot. Yerim wears a warm smile as she listens to all the stories Yeojin has from school and even exchanged some of her own stories with the girl. Chaewon watches in envy at how well Yeojin and Yerim get along with one another but she feels happy for the two of them for finally being able to see each other again._

_Chaewon and Yeojin have run off somewhere to play chasing after Chaewon stole Yeojin’s drink, leaving Yerim walking awkwardly with her aunt by her side. The sound of crickets and the sound of leaves crunching underneath their shoe fills their surroundings. None of them knows how to start a conversation with one another. There are so many things to talk about but they just didn’t know how to start it without accidentally saying something wrong._

_“How are you?” her aunt asked._

_“Good,” Yerim replies with an awkward smile on her face. Her aunt fights back the urge to let out a sigh after seeing the way Yerim plays with her finger nervously._

_“How’s life abroad?”_

_“Okay,” Yerim says as she bites on her lower lips. Her aunt stops in her tracks once she notices Yerim’s nervousness, she decides to drop her questions for the girl to give her some space._

_“Take your time.” Yerim looks up and sees her aunt giving her a small smile._

_“Don’t force yourself and I won’t force you into coming back to us,” her aunt continues as she reaches over to give Yerim’s shoulder a soft squeeze._

_“We’re always waiting for you to come back; you don’t have to stay with us but just know that you’ll always be part of us.”_

_“Thank you,” Yerim asks, her eyes brimming with tears. Her aunt let out a soft chuckle and hugs Yerim tightly in her arms. Yerim returns the hug as tight as her aunt, the two of them share a quiet moment. Their hug becomes their silent agreement for a new beginning with each other._

Before she knows it, Yerim has fallen asleep in her outing attire. When she wakes up, the sun has risen from its slumber. She sits up groggily and rubs her eyes, her nose scrunches up by her own smell. She quickly makes a run towards the bathroom for a shower and to wash up for the day. Yerim walks out of her apartment after a sad breakfast, a slice of toast and a cup of bitter coffee, and heads towards the local supermarket to replenish the home’s empty fridge. 

In her hand, she holds a list of the groceries that she needs to get from her grandmother. Her favourite old pal has left early in the morning to head to a friend’s house to spend the day, so she has the whole house to herself today and to settle her own meals. She’s walking down the streets with her earbuds in when her eyes spot Hyejoo walking tiredly. She walks towards the girl and waves her hand at the tired girl to get her attention. 

“Morning Yerim,” Hyejoo yawns as she rubs her eyes tiredly. Yerim raises an eyebrow at that, she notices Hyejoo’s still in her work attire.

“You didn’t go home?” Yerim questions, she decides to head home first as groceries can wait. Hyejoo shakes her head and she walks alongside Yerim, she tries her best to give Yerim her fullest attention but from how tired she is, she couldn’t help let out a yawn or two occasionally. Yerim pouts at that sight, she drapes an arm around Hyejoo’s shoulder to let the girl rest her head on her shoulder as they walk home. 

Yerim takes Hyejoo’s keys from the girl’s pocket and helps the girl into her room. Placing Hyejoo gently down on her bed, she tucks the girl into bed before standing to leave the girl alone. She decides to raid Hyejoo’s fridge to whip up a meal for the girl before she leaves to get her groceries. After coming up with a simple yet delicious meal from the ingredients and leftovers she finds in Hyejoo’s fridge, she leaves a note for the girl before she leaves.

A few hours pass and Hyejoo wakes up to a dark room. She sits up slowly and sees her clock show, ‘6.30 pm. She goes to wash up before she heads to the kitchen. She hears her stomach grumble and she lets out a soft sigh, she opens the fridge to see a meal inside with a sticky note pasted on the top.

‘ _I’ve made you a meal before I left! Just put it in the microwave to warm it up, enjoy :D’_

Hyejoo lets out a snort at that, she pulls out the plate and pops the meal into the microwave. Once the meal is done, she heads outside and sits on her couch. Her eyes stare lovingly at the meal prepared for her; she quickly grabs her phone to snap a photo of it. Placing her phone on the side, she digs in for her first meal of the day. 

A contented hum leaves her mouth as she savours the flavourful meal Yerim makes. It definitely doesn’t look as good as those you get at the restaurant but since it’s made with love, it tasted super delicious to her. This is the only time she cleaned her plate of food, she’ll make sure she tells Yerim how much of a good cook she is when she sees the girl again.

-

Yerim’s eyes stare right at her bare beige ceiling, her mind full of thoughts. She’s contemplating whether to meet up with her mother or not. The Sun’s already coming in through the gaps of her curtains, she’s awake after the first snooze of her alarm. Just as she’s about to stand up to head to the bathroom, her phone starts to ring. 

Yerim picks up the call without bothering to check who was calling her. Upon hearing the voice on the other side of the line, her face drained of colour. She quickly sits up and chews on her bottom lip, she has no idea what to say.

“Aren’t you going to greet your mother?” Yerim freezes upon hearing that voice. 

“Good morning…” Yerim greets and she hears her mother humming out a reply on the other side of the line.

“I want to see you today,” Yerim’s mother says, not bothered to ask the girl how is she and what’s she is doing right now.

“Okay…” Yerim trails off and hangs the phone call. She looks at the dark phone screen and let out a soft sigh, she’s dreading to see her mother. It’s not like she’s given a choice to meet the older woman either, she has to go. Not wanting to stay on her mother’s bad side, Yerim gets up to wash up and get dressed before she leaves. 

Yerim opens the front door and she sees a tired Hyejoo standing in front of her door. She watches the girl open her door lazily before she greets the girl, “morning.”

“oh hey,” Hyejoo smiles weakly and waves her hand at Yerim. 

“Rough morning?” Yerim questions the girl as she adjusts her shoe before standing up straight to face the girl. 

“Rough Night,” Hyejoo murmurs as she kicks her shoe off. Yerim raises an eyebrow at the girl before reaching forward to touch the girl’s forehead, it’s not hot so she’s not sick.

“I had to cover another person’s shift at Haseul’s restaurant and some group of people decides to have spicy rice cake in the middle of the night when I’m tending the store alone,” Hyejoo grumbles out as she leans her head against the walls of the building. Yerim pouts at the girl before she reaches over to tuck the loose strain of hair on Hyejoo’s face behind her ears. She sees Hyejoo’s face turn red at that, she fights back the urge to tease the girl.

“Anyways, where are you heading out to?” Hyejoo asks when she sees Yerim all dolled up in the morning. Yerim’s pout falls off her face and it’s replaced with a small frown on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Hyejoo asks worriedly when she sees that. She walks towards the girl and cup Yerim’s face in her hands. 

“I’m seeing my mother today,” Yerim whispers out. 

Hyejoo can see the hesitation on the girl’s face, “Do you want to go?”

“I don’t…” Yerim sighs, “But I don’t have a choice.”

“It’s okay…” Hyejoo tries to comfort the girl, “go see her and listen to what she has to say but if she says something that you don’t want to hear, just leave okay?”

“Okay.”

“But if she says something that hurts you a lot and you want a shoulder to cry on, I’m here okay? I’ll lend you my shoulders to cry on and my arms to hug and comfort you.” Hyejoo adds on and finishes it with a small peck on the cheeks before pulling away. Yerim nods her head with a red face and bids Hyejoo goodbye. Hyejoo remains standing outside and sees Yerim turn the corner before she goes back home. 

Once Yerim reaches the place her mother has asked to see her, she quickly makes her way to the older woman sitting alone drinking her cup of water. They’ve agreed to meet at a café where there are not many people patronising the place to ensure their privacy for their coming talk. Yerim takes her seat opposite her mother and looks down at her lap, she dares not to look at the woman in the eye.

“Why didn’t you tell me when you’re back?” Her mother questions her.

“I’m sorry,” Yerim apologises softly, she plays with her fingers on her lap. Her mother frowns at the girl and places her cup of tea down on the tea plate. She folds her arms together in front of her chest, looking at her daughter who’s not looking at her.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you.” Yerim’s head immediately shot up, she swallowed the lump of air stuck in her throat.

“I have no issues with you coming back but I just don’t like it that the first person you inform when you come back is your aunt. Is she more important than me? Are you respecting me as your mother?!” 

Yerim flinches at the tone her mother is speaking to her. She shakes in her seat, cowering in fear from the intense glare her mother is giving her. She’s not used to speaking to her mother nor does she know how to talk to that woman. 

“Are you going to answer me or stay quiet?!”

“I’m sorry,” Yerim says again.

“What are you sorry about?!”

“Sorry for not telling you that I’m home and sorry for not respecting you as my mother.” 

“Yerim…” Her mother sighs out when all she hears is apology after apology from her daughter. She rubs her face using her hand, she’s frustrated but she doesn’t want to vent it out on her yet. 

“I’m just worried about you, I don’t like it that you’re always going to your aunt about your issues or when you need help. I’m your mother,” Yerim’s mother continues softly. Yerim sees her mom soften for a moment before it’s being replaced by a small frown like she always does when she sees her.

“I know…”

“But why aren’t you treating me like your mother?! You’re not calling me mother, I don’t fault you for that because you grow up and are being taken care of by your aunt. However, you must understand why I’m doing all of this!”

“Doing what?!” Yerim asks out angrily suddenly, it makes her mother jump up in surprise.

“You’re the one trying to tear my aunt and I’s relationship apart, the one who tells me that my aunt won’t treat me like one of her own when I grow older, the one who tells me I should respect you when you clearly don’t do that as well. What do you want from me?!” Yerim snaps, her shoulders bobbing up and down. Her mother’s brows knit together at her daughter’s rude outburst.

“I try, I try to do things your way. I listen to you and do what you tell me to do when I was younger but you weren’t satisfied with me. When things don’t go your way, you’ll fault me for it. You’ll side your son instead of me. You’ll always drag my aunt and grandaunt into our arguments for no goddamn reasons! Have you tried to understand how I feel?!” 

“You have no right to talk to your mother like that!” Yerim’s mother yells at the girl, earning them a few curious glances from other café goers.

“Why not?! Don’t you go around others that I’m not your daughter?! You don’t treat me like one either!” Yerim yells back. 

Her mother stands up angrily, her hand raised ready to slap Yerim. Yerim stands up as well, challenging her mother, “You’ll cast me aside, ask me to fend for myself and don't give two shits about me. When I had to seek a counsellor for help, I got berated by you. You even put your ego in front when you confronted me about it!”

“Enough!” Her mother scolds the girl loudly as she slaps her daughter. Yerim touches her red cheek that is stinging in pain from the slap, tears rolling profusely down her cheeks. She grabs her stuff and leaves the café but before she steps out she makes sure she lets her mother know what’s on her mind.

“Don't talk to me ever again! You never treated me right from the start, from all the pushing of blame and siding my stepbrother when things go wrong." Yerim pants out, her face flushes red due to anger. Her resentment towards her mother fills her mind and grows inside her like a tumour. 

"Even if you have finally reflected on all the wrongdoings you have done, you'll never be called mother by me! Because my aunt will be the only person, I call mother!"

It’s late at night and Hyejoo plans to sleep when she hears a knock on her door. She opens the door and her eyes widen when she sees a drunk Yerim at the door. Yerim pushes past Hyejoo and falls to the ground with a thud. Hyejoo rushes to the drunk girl and helps Yerim up onto her sofa. 

“What happened?” Hyejoo asks softly as she brushes Yerim’s hair out of the girl’s face. Yerim raises a finger weakly to place it on Hyejoo’s lips to shush the girl. She hears silence from the girl before dropping her hand down onto Hyejoo’s lap. Hyejoo sits on the sofa and lets Yerim hug her waist tightly while her head rests on her shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Yerim slurs out. Hyejoo lets out a soft sigh, the sight of Yerim now makes her heartache. From the sight of Yerim’s ruined makeup to the slight red eyes Yerim has, Hyejoo knows the girl has been crying. 

“Why are you so nice to me?” Yerim asks out suddenly, breaking the silence between them.

“hmm?”

“Why are you so nice to me? We barely know each other but you’re treating me so kindly like we’ve known each other for years. I don’t know why but I feel comforted when you told me that not necessarily, we need to be blood-related to feel like family because family forms through bonds from people-to-people interaction,” Yerim goes on through her soft sobs. Hyejoo pulls Yerim up to get the girl to look at her, she wipes the tears away on the girl’s face. The sight of a crying Yerim hurt her heart so much that she started crying unknowingly too.

“I don’t know,” Hyejoo whispers out, her bottom lips shaking. She really doesn’t know why too. The first time she sees Yerim, she’s charmed by the girl’s look. However, the more she got to know the girl, the more she realises she’s intrigued by the girl. When she sees the girl cry, her heartaches in the most painful way that she didn’t know she could feel. When Yerim smiles, she feels like her whole world has been lightened up by the brightest sun in the world. When Yerim speaks with so much uncertainty in her voice, Hyejoo never wanted to help Yerim to be certain about her views. 

Hyejoo wants to help Yerim, not out of pity, not out of her crush on the girl but out of pure love she has for the girl. She just wants to see Yerim genuinely happy and reunited with the family she grew up with. She wants Yerim to deserve all the happiness and love in the world. 

“I just don’t want to see you so hurt like this,” Hyejoo adds on softly. Yerim looks at Hyejoo and rests a hand on the girl’s neck before leaning in to kiss the girl’s lips. Hyejoo’s taken back by surprise but she quickly returns the kiss as her eyes flutter close. Yerim continues to kiss Hyejoo and tries to deepen the kiss when Hyejoo suddenly pushes the girl away.

“No,” Hyejoo says, her voice sounds shaky and out of breath. Yerim looks at the girl and her vision turns blurry from the warm tears forming in her eyes. She stands up hastily and leaves Hyejoo’s house to go back to her own. Hyejoo remains on her sofa, she drops her head into her hand as she lets out a soft sigh. She doesn’t chase after the girl, she decides Yerim needs the time alone to calm down.

-

A groan escapes her mouth when Yerim wakes up with a bad hangover. She sits up on her bed and looks down to see herself still in her outing outfit from yesterday. She quickly shrugs her coat off and unbuttons the top few buttons of her shirt. Waking into the toilet, she splashes her face with cold water to wake herself up. She looks at herself in the mirror, the way her mascara running down her cheek reminds her about her encounter with her mother. Yerim hangs her head low as she lets out a sigh, she’s been sighing a lot ever since she comes home. 

Just as she wants to undress to shower, she hears a knocking on the door before a soft voice follows.

“Yerim? This is Hyejoo, your grandmother let me in. Can I come in?” 

“Yeah,” Yerim answers loudly from the bathroom. She shut her bathroom door and locked it before she went to the shower. Hyejoo walks into Yerim’s room and her eyes widen at the opened luggage, it’s been nearly two months since Yerim came back, but the girl has yet to unpack. She makes her way to Yerim’s table, her eyes soften at the sight of their photo that they took at the photo booth a few weeks ago. She looks around and sees more photos of a younger Yerim next to an older woman. From the way they pose in the photo, she could tell the older woman is Yerim’s aunt. 

She looks away from the photo and looks down at the girl’s table. She glances at the numerous files Yerim has on the table before the medical file catches her attention. Hyejoo turns to the bathroom and hears the water running before she picks up the medical file, her eyes widen when she sees it’s Yerim’s grandmother’s medical file. Hyejoo’s heart drops after reading the older woman’s medical records. Yerim’s grandmother’s condition isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse in fact. When she hears the water stop running, Hyejoo quickly places the medical file back to where it was found and sits on the edge of Yerim’s bed. 

Yerim walks out of the bathroom in a new set of clothing, she sees Hyejoo on her bed and greets the girl weakly. Hyejoo gives her a tight-lipped smile before going back to look at her hands that are clasped together. Just as Yerim pulls out a shirt from her drawer, Hyejoo asks her a question.

“What do you plan to do after your grandmother…” Hyejoo asks softly, she trails off halfway from not knowing how to continue her question.

“I don’t know,” Yerim sighs out as she rests her arms on her drawer. She stares at the photo of her and her grandmother that’s placed on top of her drawer. 

“I know my mother wouldn’t give me a day of peace after my grandmother passes on,” Yerim whispers out loud enough for Hyejoo to hear. Hyejoo stands up from Yerim’s bed and makes her way to the girl. Yerim feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to Hyejoo, she sees concern in the girl’s eyes.

“I might leave again.” Hyejoo’s heart stops when she hears that. She knows Yerim wouldn’t come back if she was to leave again because there’s no more other reason for her to stay.

“What about your aunt? She’s your family,” Hyejoo asks softly, trying to find a reason for Yerim to stay.

“I know but I can’t always stay here and have my mom harass the two of us,” Yerim explains and feels Hyejoo’s hand sliding off her shoulder. She could see the disappointment in Hyejoo’s eyes but she didn't fault the girl. 

“would you stay if there’s someone here who wants you?”

“Why did you ask?” Yerim asks out feeling amused by Hyejoo’s sudden odd question.

“I want to know.”

“Depends…I don’t know honestly.”

“I know someone who wants you to stay,” Hyejoo says suddenly. Yerim turns to her with a raised eyebrow, curious to what the girl would say.

“who?”

“Simon,” Hyejoo coughs out as she scratches the back of her neck and looks away from the girl. She’s too shy and scared to say it’s her who wants Yerim to stay. However, if Yerim wishes to leave, she wouldn’t stop the girl. Like what she wanted, if Yerim’s happy with that decision, she wishes nothing more but for Yerim to do that. That too doesn’t mean, some part of her wishes to be selfish a little and make Yerim stay.

“Anyways! That aside,” Hyejoo interrupts and steps away from Yerim. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

“Last night?” Yerim questions, going along with Hyejoo who suddenly changed the topic. Hyejoo nods her head and Yerim shakes her head with a confused look on her face. Yerim has no idea what Hyejoo is talking about.

“Really?” Hyejoo asks her arms akimbo. Yerim nods her head and tilts her head to the side to look at the girl.

“Care to tell me?”

“Why don’t I show you hmm?” Hyejoo asks with a raised eyebrow. 

Yerim stands up straight and lets out a snort. She spreads her arms open and tells Hyejoo that she’s ready. She sees Hyejoo come towards her and before she knows it she feels her heart stop beating. Her eyes wide open, so wide that it might fall from her eye socket. She can’t believe what she’s seeing right now. Hyejoo’s lips on hers. Hyejoo is kissing her right now.

“I KISSED YOU YESTERDAY?!” Yerim shrieks out when Hyejoo steps away. Hyejoo nods her head, though she looks a little angry at Yerim, the tips of her ears are turning into a darker shade of red. 

“YES!” 

“OH MY GOD!” Yerim cries out as she falls onto her bed, burrowing her face into her pillow. Hyejoo shakes her head at the girl and pokes the girl’s shoulder blade to get Yerim to look at her.

“You have to be responsible for taking away my first kiss.”

“Responsible?!” 

“Yes,” Hyejoo says seriously.

Yerim sits up straight and looks at the girl, “how?”

“Go on a date with me.”

“What?”

“I said go on a date with me,” Hyejoo repeats herself.

“Okay,” Yerim nods her head.

“okay??”

“Okay.”

“Okay…” Hyejoo whispers out, feeling weird out from how fast Yerim agrees to it. She thought Yerim might think it through and probably reject her.

“I can’t believe it’s your first kiss,” Yerim snorts out suddenly. 

Hyejoo turns to Yerim and squints her eyes at the girl before she lunges at the girl. Hyejoo’s on top of Yerim as she starts a tickle fight with Yerim. For a moment, they forgotten Yerim’s grandmother is at home as Yerim’s door suddenly opens and they hear a loud gasp from the older woman.

“Oh my god!” Yerim’s grandmother gasps up when she sees her neighbour on top of her granddaughter. Hyejoo quickly jumps off the bed and apologises to the older woman while Yerim straightens out her clothes. 

“Please don’t do such indecent things in my home again,” Yerim’s grandmother says as she shuts the door behind her. Hyejoo turns to Yerim and gives the girl an apologetic smile to which makes Yerim let out a chuckle.

“So about our date?”

“yeah! Our date,” Hyejoo nods her head quickly and goes to Yerim to discuss their date.

-

"Hyejoo..." Yerim calls out of the girl softly. Hyejoo turns to the girl with a small grin on her face, she jogs to the girl and joins Yerim's side.

"what?"

"Why are we here?" Yerim asks, she looks at the different variety of bicycles in front of her.

“For our date!”

“I know but why here?” 

"So we can have a cycling date!" Hyejoo beams as she walks forward to the worker of the bicycle-lending shop to lend two bicycles. Yerim watches Hyejoo pass the worker two ten-dollar bills before coming back with two bicycles by her side.

"I can't cycle Hyejoo," Yerim says as she holds onto the purple bicycle Hyejoo got for her.

"I know," Hyejoo replies as she rests her bicycle against the lamp post. "I'm going to teach you today before we go cycling together."

"Uhm..." Yerim trails off. Hyejoo raises an eyebrow at the girl, Yerim looks very hesitant. 

"You're in good hands," Hyejoo says as she helps Yerim wear the safety equipment that she brought from home. "I'll keep you safe, mark my words."

"But if I don't know before the afternoon?" Yerim asks out softly. She's hoping she'll learn how to cycle before the afternoon so she can cycle with Hyejoo.

"Then, I'll be your chauffeur!" 

"Always the optimistic one aren't you?" Yerim scoffs at the smiling girl.

"Only for you mademoiselle," Hyejoo says with a small curtsey and it earns her a playful slap on the shoulder from Yerim.

"Come on, let's get you started." Yerim nods her head. She manages to get on the two-wheeled bicycle with the help of Hyejoo. 

Hyejoo stands by her side, not so close that it'll obstruct Yerim's movement, and teaches her how to paddle and brake a bicycle. Yerim learnt how to keep her balance on the two-wheeled bicycle and also how to cycle. 

Hyejoo has her hand holding onto the back of Yerim's seat as she helps stable Yerim when the girl cycles. They do that for another hour and a half before they take a short water break. Yerim plops down on the grass, she catches the bottle of water Hyejoo tosses at her.

"You have to cycle later," Hyejoo says as she watches Yerim gulp down her bottle of water. Yerim lets out a contented sigh as she passes Hyejoo back her bottle of water, "me?"

"Yeah, we got to see if you learnt anything."

"I learnt a lot!" Yerim says quickly with a big smile, she really doesn't want to cycle again. "I learnt how to keep my balance when cycling."

"That's because I hold onto your bicycle to ensure you wouldn't fall," Hyejoo frowns slightly at Yerim. Yerim sees the frown on Hyejoo's face and lets out a sigh; she's petrified to fall and hurt herself that's why she doesn't want to cycle again because she knows Hyejoo would let go of her. 

"I won't let go of you, so just go on for another half an hour okay?" Hyejoo says with a small smile on her face, she hopes she manages to convince the girl. Yerim rolls her eyes and stands up, she walks to her bicycle and turns to Hyejoo to look at the girl dead in the eye.

"I'm doing this for you only," Yerim says sternly as she gets onto her bicycle. Hyejoo smiles brightly as she stands up quickly to join Yerim. Yerim feels a pat on her shoulder and turns back to see Hyejoo holding the back of her bicycle. With a nod of her head, Yerim starts peddling slowly. As she continues to peddle, Yerim decides to be a little ambitious and quicken up her pace as she has completely forgotten Hyejoo's behind her. 

Hyejoo seizes this chance to let go of Yerim's bicycle. She stands behind and sees Yerim doing well by herself and cycling away perfectly. She quickly runs to her own bicycle and hops on it before peddling quickly to join Yerim's side. A proud smile is found on Hyejoo's face as she quickly joins Yerim's side. Yerim turns to Hyejoo with wide eyes, she turns back and sees no one holding onto her bicycle.

"I DID IT!" Yerim squeals as she lets out a small laugh. She can't believe herself. She did that in three hours with Hyejoo. She didn't even manage to learn how to cycle when she was younger under her aunt's help. 

"YEAH! I KNOW AND I'M SO PROUD!" Hyejoo laughs out with the girl. She sticks a hand out and ruffles Yerim's hair before pedalling away quickly. "TRY TO CATCH UP WITH ME!"

"BET!" Yerim yells as she quickens up her pace. Hyejoo turns back to see Yerim's cheeks all puffed up as she tries to catch up to her, a loud laugh escapes her mouth. She feels herself getting all swoon over Yerim all over again. Her feelings for the girl grow deeper. She wonders if she's able to hold herself back from stopping Yerim from leaving one day. 

As they continue to cycle around the neighbourhood, Hyejoo notices that they pass by a bridge that leads them to her favourite chocolate cake store. She turns to Yerim and motions for the girl to follow her. They continue cycling for a while before they stop in front of a vintage-looking store. Hyejoo gets off first before she helps Yerim to get off her bicycle. She rests their bicycle against the wall of the shop before entering.

"Hyejoo!" A loud squeal is heard coming from the counter. Hyejoo waves her hand excitedly at the shop owner while Yerim tags along quietly from behind.

"Sol unnie!" Hyejoo greets as she reaches over the counter to hug Jinsol. Jung eun shows herself from the kitchen and stops in her tracks, she looks Hyejoo dead in the eyes before she asks.

"When did you get yourself a girlfriend?"

"huh?" Hyejoo frowns and turns back to see Yerim hiding behind her. She turns back to Jung eun with a red face, struggling to explain their relationship.

"We're not dating actually," Yerim answers on behalf of the girl after seeing Hyejoo struggling. Jinsol raises an eyebrow at that statement, she shoots her wife a side glance. The corners of Jung eun's lips go up as she approaches Hyejoo, "oh really?"

"Isn't that what we say when we're both in denial of our feelings? Hmm Jungie," Jinsol smirks to herself as she speaks to Jung eun. Jung eun returns the smirk and nods her head, she slides an arm around Jinsol's waist before pulling the girl close to her side. Yerim and Hyejoo's face turn red immediately at that sight. 

"Well only time will tell who'll make the first move," Jung eun says as she looks at Hyejoo to hint at the girl. Hyejoo clears her throat and points at the chocolate cakes on display, "We're here to buy some cakes."

"For the beautiful lady behind you?" Jinsol asks teasingly as she walks away from Jung eun to the display counter. She rests her arms on the counter and looks at Yerim, she looks beautiful and very much Hyejoo's type. 

"No," Hyejoo says as she glares at Jinsol. Jinsol raises her arm surrendering, she doesn't want to tease Hyejoo until the girl gets mad at her. 

"So, what's your name?" Jung eun asks Yerim who is watching Hyejoo getting them cakes. 

"Yerim," Yerim smiles as she holds her hand out to shake Jung eun's hand. Jung eun returns the handshake before giving Yerim a small note, it's a recipe for a chocolate pie. 

"Here's our secret recipe to our homemade chocolate pie, I'm giving it to you so you can help make those for our precious over there." Yerim turns to look at Hyejoo who's wearing a big smile on her face as she laughs at Jinsol's lame jokes. 

"She's not the type to really show affections well but from the way she behaves around you, I can tell she feels something for you. I'm not going to push the two of you into anything but I hope my recipe can help you charm your ways into Hyejoo's heart easily. You have my good wishes Yerim," Jung eun smiles warmly at her. Yerim feels a soft squeeze on her shoulder before she sees Jung eun joining her wife to tease a red Hyejoo. A small smile appears on her face when she sees the last ingredient that's labelled in bold and special.

_'Lots and Lots of Love!!!'_

"Yo," Hyejoo calls out for Yerim, she jogs towards Yerim. The two of them have just returned the bicycle that they lend and now they are making their way home. 

"I'm sorry for Jinsol unnie and Jung eun unnie's indecent behaviour and weird words," Hyejoo apologies to Yerim on behalf of the two unnie that has lost some of her respect for how they treated her in front of Yerim. 

Yerim shakes her head and lets out a soft chuckle, "It's fine, they sound like a fun couple to be around with."

"they do," Hyejoo smiles softly at the girl. "They've been together for ages. Met in high school, dated in Uni and got married when they were financially stable and ready to settle down. They've been through so many ups and downs, they were the most in denial couple I've seen by far!"

"you sound like you know them for a very long time," Yerim comments after hearing Hyejoo's words.

"Yeah, I have known them and Jung eun and Jinsol unnie since young. I used to be a rebellious kid who didn't want to go to school and lied about going to school so my other mom wouldn’t be worried about me.” Hyejoo lets out a small snort at that, only God knows how Mom Sooyoung would react if she finds out that Hyejoo has been skipping school when she’s younger. 

“I made sure to score super well for my exams so my teacher wouldn’t care about me missing out on my education and school time. Plus, some of the teachers in school didn’t care so that’s that.” Yerim shakes her head upon hearing that.

“I had no idea what to do in life until I met them at an arcade, I won a game against them and the rest was history. Jinsol unnie would tutor me, Jung eun unnie would bring me to and fetch me from the school that I transferred to. Then I met Heejin and Hyunjin from detention because we were all late for school, they became my best friends. Hyunjin would cheer me up when I'm sad, Heejin would cook for me and now Haseul unnie who offered me a job."

"They're like your family," Yerim whispers out, her heart swelling with happiness to know that Hyejoo has such great people looking after her. 

"They are," Hyejoo smiles to herself, "they took care of me when mom Sooyoung couldn’t sometimes. They showed me anyone can be family regardless of who you are, I owe them a lot."

"I'm glad that I'm able to meet them," Yerim grins as she reaches over to hold Hyejoo's hands in hers. Hyejoo looks down at their hand and intertwines their fingers together. Yerim's heart skips a beat and she looks away with a red face, causing Hyejoo to stifle her laughter.

"What are you laughing at?!" Yerim asks angrily with a frown on her face. 

"nothing," Hyejoo coos with a scrunch of her nose, making Yerim pout at her. The two of them look at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing. They walk hand-in-hand home with a chocolate cake each in their hand to share with Yerim's grandmother.

-

Yerim opens the door of the apartment she shares with her grandmother, she frowns at the quiet sight. She drops her keys into the key bowl and places the box of cake on the dining table. 

"Grandma?" Yerim calls out as she walks into the balcony to look for her favourite old lady. A frown forms on her face when she doesn't see her sitting on her rocking chair on the balcony.

"Granny?" Hyejoo calls out as she helps Yerim to look for her grandmother. She enters the study room and sees everything is neatly placed, nothing has been moved. The two of them join each other in the living room, a small frown forms on their face. Yerim walks to her room while Hyejoo walks to the kitchen, both of them couldn't find the old lady's presence.

"Ma!" Yerim yells as she walks to her grandmother's room. She pushes the door open and her eyes widen at the sight of her grandmother on the floor. She dives down to scoop the older lady into her arms, she tries to wake her up but to no avail. 

"Call the ambulance Hyejoo!" Yerim cries out as she shakes her grandmother's unconscious breathing. Hyejoo has her phone pressed against her ears as she dials for the paramedics, she placed two fingers on Yerim's grandmother's neck to find a pulse. She heaves out a relieved sigh when she feels a pulse but they are slow. 

"Hey yes, I need an ambulance at XXX Street XXX building and XXX floor," Hyejoo says as she tries to calm down a crying Yerim. Once she gets a confirmation, she ditches her phone on the floor and goes to Yerim. She runs her hand up and down Yerim's back as she helps Yerim to breathe properly while they wait for help to come.

"What if she doesn't wake up! Hyejoo!" Yerim cries out to Hyejoo. Hyejoo's heart shatters at that sight but she can't be emotional right now because Yerim needs her. Hyejoo calms herself down and shakes her head at Yerim, "Don't think about that. I'm sure she'll wake up, trust her."

"Okay," Yerim says shakingly as tears spill out of her eyes. Hyejoo holds onto Yerim's hand tightly as they wait for medical help to come. Once the ambulance comes, Yerim joins the paramedics to the hospital while Hyejoo remains behind. Hyejoo paces around in Yerim's empty house, finally having time to sort herself. She lets out a deep sigh as she tries to calm herself down, she leaves Yerim's house and makes a call to Haseul to tell the girl that she wouldn't be able to work for a while. Though Haseul's worried about the girl's sudden decision, she doesn't question the girl and even offers help. 

-

Hyejoo sits outside of the doctor's office as she waits for Yerim. She stares at the ceiling of the clinic as the strong scent of hand sanitiser fills her nostrils, she cringes at that smell. Hyejoo closes her eyes as she prays for Yerim's grandmother's diagnosis to be filled with good news, her heart has been torn over and over again by the previous diagnosis.

It's been a few weeks since Yerim's grandmother got admitted into the hospital. Hyejoo never once left the duo's side throughout the journey. Yerim's grandmother is grateful for Hyejoo's act and Yerim couldn't feel more in debt to Hyejoo's kindness towards her and her grandmother. 

Hyejoo quickly gets up onto her feet when she hears the door open, a tired Yerim shows herself. She rushes to the girl and watches her give the doctor a weak smile before mustering a big smile for her. Hyejoo's heart shatters at that sight. She pulls Yerim into her hug and she feels Yerim crying on her shoulder.

"The doctor says her illness is worsening and she's not getting better. She'll be a goner at any time right now," Yerim bawls out as she clings onto Hyejoo tightly, her hand grabbing a handful of the girl's sweater. Hyejoo bites on her lower lips as she tries to stop her tears from running down her face, she's hurting as much as Yerim. Though Yerim's grandmother isn't her biological grandmother, she has always treated the older lady like one and so did Yerim’s grandmother when she treated Hyejoo like her grandkid. 

"We'll stay by her side until her last breath," Hyejoo whispers out as she pulls back and cups Yerim's face in her hands, she wipes the girl's tears away using her thumb. "I'll be by your side through it all okay?"

Yerim nods her head and hugs Hyejoo again, this time not as tight as just now. Hyejoo pats Yerim's head as she lets a few tears escape her eye, her heart has never felt more painful until now.

-

The sound of the heart monitor is heard in the hospital room. Hyejoo stands behind as she watches Yerim's family visit their grandmother. The way all of them stand solemnly next to Yerim, makes Hyejoo feel out of place. She slips out of the room quietly and decides to go to the vending machine to get herself a drink. Just as she's going to grab her drink, a tap on her shoulder catches her attention.

"You must be Hyejoo," a blonde hair girl says with a small smile. Hyejoo nods her head and straightens herself, she must be Yerim's cousin. 

"Is it okay if I talk to you for a moment?" Yerim's cousin asks as she points towards the lift to head up to the rooftop garden. Hyejoo nods her head and follows the girl.

Hyejoo and Yerim's cousin sit quietly on one of the benches at the rooftop garden, none of them speaks a word when they arrive. Hyejoo pops open her can of coffee and starts drinking it quietly as she looks at the afternoon sun.

"Are you trying to blind yourself?" Yerim's cousin asks with an amused grin, this got Hyejoo to look at her. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Hyejoo asks, "and I haven't gotten your name."

"Oops, my bad. I'm Chaewon," Yerim's cousin, Chaewon, smiles at Hyejoo, her eyes squints a little from the sun. Hyejoo nods her head and turns to look away from the girl.

"I want to talk to you about Yerim," Chaewon sighs out. "But let's talk about you first though."

"mm," Hyejoo hums out.

"I heard a lot about you from my grandmother and Yerim," Chaewon starts.

"I hope they are all good words," Hyejoo jokes and it makes a smile form on Chaewon's face. She looks down at her hand and lets out a sigh, she can't believe she's making a joke right now. 

"It's okay to make a joke, it helps relieve our mood." Hyejoo's ears perk up when she hears what Chaewon says, it's like the girl can hear what she's thinking.

"Anyways, they are all good words don't worry. My family and I just want to say thank you for all the help you've provided for us. The company you provided for my grandmother and Yerim, we're very grateful."

"It's okay, I'm doing all of this willingly. Don't have to thank me," Hyejoo says as she shoots Chaewon a side glance. Chaewon nods her head and keeps quiet after that, silence takes over once again. After a while, Hyejoo stands up and says, "if you have nothing more to say, I'll like to go down and accompany Yerim."

"Wait," Chaewon calls out and continues, "I want to talk to you about Yerim, I've been trying to think of a way to ask you for a favour."

"What favour?" Hyejoo asks curiously as she turns to Chaewon. Chaewon stands up from her seat and looks at Hyejoo, her sad eyes bore into Hyejoo.

"Stop Yerim from leaving again."

-

A yawn escapes Yerim's mouth as she rises from the sofa in her grandmother's hospital room. She rubs her eyes and stretches herself before she stands up to head to the toilet to wash up. Just as she turns to leave, she sees Hyejoo resting by her grandmother's side. She walks to Hyejoo and drapes her jacket over the girl's shoulder, a small smile forms on her face. Yerim moves the loose strand of hair off Hyejoo's face and tucks them behind the girl's ears, her eyes soften at the sight of her sleeping.

"Thank you," Yerim whispers out as she leans down to place a kiss on Hyejoo's cheeks. She stands there and looks at Hyejoo for a while more before going to wash up. Once she steps out of the toilet, she goes through her duffel bag and finds out she's running out of fresh clothes to change into. Deciding to head home to get new clothes, Yerim picks up her bag and turns to give the two sleeping ladies one last look before she leaves.

Two hours passed before Hyejoo finally woke up from her sleep. She sits up slowly and lets out a loud yawn, this earns her a soft laugh from her side. She quickly turns to Yerim's grandmother, who is awake, and rushes out to get the doctors. Hyejoo stands by the side and watches the doctor do a check on Yerim's grandmother. After the doctor leaves, she settles down next to the older woman.

"Hyejoo-yah," Yerim's grandmother calls out weakly as she holds her hand out wanting to hold her hand. Hyejoo reaches over and holds the older woman's hand tightly in hers, the weak smile on the older woman's face makes her heartache.

"Thank you for staying by my side and by Yerim's side," Yerim's grandmother says as she pats the back of Hyejoo's hand. Hyejoo shakes her head lightly and tells the older woman to not thank her for such trivial things. The older woman laughs softly before a soft sigh is heard coming from her mouth, she looks at Hyejoo with a weak smile.

"Can you do me a favour?" Yerim's grandmother asks softly and Hyejoo nods her head quickly. Hyejoo shifts closer to the older woman and waits for her to continue.

"I...I know my days are not long," Yerim's grandmother sighs out as she stares at the ceiling, "I wouldn't be able to protect Yerim from her mother and love her anymore."

"Don't say that..." Hyejoo mutters out, tears brimming in her eyes already.

"People has to leave someday, and it's my time to leave soon. Don't be upset about it," Yerim's grandmother smiles at the girl and ruffles Hyejoo's hair. Hyejoo pouts and buries her head into Yerim's grandmother side. Yerim's grandmother looks down and pats Hyejoo's head before she continues talking.

"I want you to help me look after Yerim and to give her all the love you can," Yerim's grandmother says and this causes Hyejoo to look up. "I know you like our Yerimmie a lot and I know Yerimmie likes you a lot but because of me and her current situation, she doesn't know how to feel about it either."

"I...She wants to leave," Hyejoo whispers out and Yerim's grandmother closes her eyes upon hearing that.

"She's leaving because of her mother Hyejoo, her mother's the reason why she's leaving everyone behind. I don't know how to help Yerim anymore," Yerim's grandmother sighs out as she opens her eyes again.

"Yerim is very unhappy but I finally see her smile more often ever since you came around, I want Yerim to be like that, not sad like last time."

"I'll try," Hyejoo assures as she holds Yerim's grandmother's hand tightly in hers.

"Thank you Hyejoo-yah for helping me with this favour. Even if you couldn't do much just know that I'm very grateful that you're helping," Yerim's grandmother smiles at Hyejoo before closing her eyes to rest. Hyejoo watches the older woman shut her eyes to rest before she slips her hand out of her hold. She stands up and pinches her nose bridge, just how can she help Yerim and stop the girl from leaving.

Then, the door opens suddenly. Hyejoo looks up and sees Yerim in a new outfit, she smiles at the girl and hugs Yerim. Yerim is taken aback by surprise but she returns the hug tightly. Hyejoo melts under Yerim's touch, she hopes it would help motivate her to think of a way to stop Yerim from leaving.

"Had anything to eat?" Yerim asks as she pulls back from the hug. Hyejoo shakes her head and Yerim frowns, she thought the girl would go get something to eat.

"I would go get something for us okay?" Yerim asks, ready to turn to leave. Hyejoo shakes her head and tells the girl to settle down while she goes out to get something for the two of them. Yerim nods her head and bids Hyejoo goodbye before she settles down next to her grandmother. She massages the older woman's hand before tucking the older woman in bed.

"Yerimmie?" her grandmother calls out after awhile. Yerim looks up from her phone and leans forward, she helps the older woman to sit up. "Yeah, it's me."

"Where did Hyejoo go?" the older woman asks and Yerim informs, "went to go get us brunch."

The older woman nods her head and pulls Yerim's hand to her, she holds them together and wears a small smile on her face. Yerim looks up at her grandmother and asks, "What is it? Do you have something to tell me?"

"Are you going to leave again after I die?" Yerim's heart stops upon hearing that. She looks away and tries to not let tears fall from the corner of her eyes. Her grandmother sees Yerim turning away from her, her heart aches at that sight.

"maybe," Yerim answers shakingly, still not looking at her grandmother. "Don't leave please, your aunt and Hyejoo, everyone wants you here."

"I can't...my mother is...she's the reason why I'm leaving," Yerim chokes out as she turns to her grandmother. "I thought I'm not deserving of having the love from a family but I realised that all these while it's my mother who made me think that way. Aunt treats me so well like I'm one of her own, so did you...and Hyejoo..."

Yerim's grandmother gives her grand-daughter a tight-lipped smile, "I told you already...my daughter and her family love you as much as I did when I cared for you since you were a baby. You were your aunt's first 'child' and no one can change the fact that we've built strong bonds with each other."

"Hyejoo," her grandmother continues, "has known you for more than half a year. You've been back for more than half a year to spend your time with me. I've seen your interactions with the girl, I saw the way she treats you. She loves you a lot you know? I hope you'll find comfort in Hyejoo and let her help me take care of you."

"I don't know..." Yerim trails off. Looking down at her lap, she sees two small wet patches on her jeans.

"Don't let your mother stop you from finding your happiness and reconnecting with the people you love and care for dearly...you may not be around a few years ago but those secret parcels sent to my doorsteps, I know they were all from you. You still wanted to care for us even though we are miles apart," her grandmother sobs out softly. 

She knows her favourite grand-daughter has gone through a lot and knows how much she's suffering under her mother. She really wishes to get Yerim's custody so she'll be freed from her mother but she knows she's not allowed to steal Yerim away from her mother. Afterall, Yerim's mother is the one who birthed Yerim so she has every right to want her daughter back. However, the way Yerim's mother is doing to get Yerim back is pushing Yerim away and she's not aware of it because she's not reflecting on her actions.

"You knew?" Yerim asks out with a small smile on her face, she wipes her tears away using the back of her hand. Her grandmother nods her head and pets Yerim's head, "we all knew.”

"Think about it okay? If not for Hyejoo," Yerim's grandmother says before pulling her hands away from Yerim's hold. Yerim nods her head and wipes her tears away. The two of them continue talking for the next hour about the latest news before the door opens and the two of them freeze upon seeing who has walked into the room.

"How are you aunt?" Yerim's mother says as she pulls out her sunglass and walks towards her aunty. Yerim quickly stands up and step aside so her mother can talk to her grandmother.

"You're here," her grandmother says coldly as she turns to look away from that woman.

"I've come to pay you a visit to check on you, I see you're doing quite well so I supposed Yerim doesn't need to stay here anymore to look after you. Am I right?" Yerim's mother says, the last part targeted at Yerim. Yerim straightens up and chooses to ignore her mother, she doesn't get to dictate what she should do.

Just as her mother wants to talk, Hyejoo opens the door and she flinches at the sudden tension in the room. She looks at the mysterious woman standing by Yerim's grandmother, then it dawns on her. That mysterious woman is Yerim's mother. Yerim is a carbon copy of her mother. For how beautiful Yerim's mother is, her heart isn't as beautiful as her daughters.

"I'll like to speak to Yerim privately, if you'll excuse me, " Yerim's mother says as she goes to Yerim and drags the girl out. Yerim turns back to look at Hyejoo before she disappears from their sight. Hyejoo turns to Yerim's grandmother who is shaking her head while letting out a deep sigh.

"Hyejoo," the older woman calls out and it got the girl to turn to look at her, "go after them."

Hyejoo nods her head and quickly places the food she buys on the table before she rushes out of the room. She walks down the hallway and runs her fingers through her hair, the pair just left not long ago but they are nowhere in sight.

-

"She's going to die soon," her mother says out of the blue. Yerim turns to her mother with a frown on her face, she can't believe she just heard those words coming out from her mother's mouth.

"She's not."

"She is, you and I know it very well."

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Yerim interrupts her mother, her hands form fist by her side.

"You want to leave right? Let's leave together," her mother says seriously. "You told me how awful this place is to you, so let's leave together after your grandmother has passed on. Take the money she has left behind for you and follow me."

"No," Yerim interjects.

"Why no?"

"I don't want to leave with you," Yerim spits out, she wants nothing to do with her mother at this point. Her mother has been eyeing her grandmother's money, this talk just proves her greed. Yerim has no idea how low can someone be, eyeing someone's money and that someone also cared for her when she was younger.

"Then she got to at least give me some money for taking care of you, I'm here god-child too."

"No, you don't deserve a penny from her. You're not worthy of those things!" Yerim fumes. "Who gave you the rights to demand things from her when you didn't even contribute anything much into caring for me?!"

"Because I'm your mother! and you should not be talking to me like that!" her mother chastised.

"Who are you to call your mother when you don't even play a part in my growth! You don't show yourself at all and only turn up unexpectedly to demand me to come back to you, do you know how much I hate it?!" Yerim yells angrily, her veins popping up from her forehead as rage pulsed through her veins. 

"I've been longing for a mother figure in my life and aunty has been the one filling in that position for you! She has never once spoken ill about you but you? all you do is to speak bad of them and wish for me to be brainwashed by your words!"

Hyejoo runs to the lift, she leans against the wall to catch her breath. Pushing the lift button, she enters the lift and goes to the rooftop garden. She went around the hospital but hasn't found the mother-daughter duo. Once the lift reaches the rooftop garden, she doesn't wait for the lift to open fully and rushes out. 

"I didn't!" Yerim's mother stands up, her shoulders move up and down from anger. Yerim stands up as well to challenge her mother, she's sick of her and her words.

“You did it! You asked me to respect you as a mother but have you once given me the respect that I wanted from you?! Have you earned my respect?!” Yerim yells out which left her mother at a loss for words.

“You shouldn’t ask for anything from me or grandmother and be thankful that she offered to raise me on your behalf when none of you wanted me! All you see in me is money money money!” Yerim adds on as she grabs a handful of her hair. 

“You’re a monster! You make me feel so miserable about myself!” Yerim finishes as tears stream down her face. 

“Don’t you call me that!” Her mother yells back, her face red from anger. “You have no rights to call your mother a monster!”

“You’re never my mother! You’re a monster!” Yerim screams, her hands shake with fury. 

“You don’t talk to me like that! You ungrateful child,” her mother scolds as she raises her hand.

**_SLAP_ **

Yerim’s heart races when she sees Hyejoo standing in front of her, the girl is holding her left cheek in her hand. Hyejoo’s eyes filled with anger as she glared at Yerim’s mother.

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on her!” Hyejoo hiss as she holds her arms out to protect Yerim behind her.

“Hyejoo…” Yerim trails off as she tries to get Hyejoo to step away from their argument.

“No,” Hyejoo refused to move, “I promised to protect you and I’ll stay true to my words.”

“Who are you anyway?” Yerim’s mother asks with squinting eyes, she detests this young lady who has interrupted her and Yerim’s conversation.

Hyejoo turns to Yerim behind her, “who do you want me to be?”

“Anything you want to be,” Yerim whispers back.

“I’m her girlfriend,” Hyejoo says, not breaking eye contact with Yerim. Yerim’s heart skips a beat when she hears Hyejoo say those words with nothing but love in her eyes. 

“So my daughter is now a lesbian huh?! Disgusting,” Yerim’s mother’s voice filled with detest snaps Yerim out of her trance. The disgust on her mother’s face makes her anger boil and the resentment in her grows even more. 

“If you’re not going to support her unconditionally, then you’re not fit to be her mother.”

Yerim, Hyejoo and Yerim’s mother turn to the person who said those words. Yerim and Yerim’s mother’s eyes widen when they see who’s standing not far from them with a disgusted look on her face. Yerim holds onto Hyejoo tightly as she watches her aunt storm to her mother and she flinches when she hears a slap coming from the pair.

“I thought you'd change for your daughter but I guess not. You’re still as disgusting as you were before. She’s your only daughter and why couldn't you be understanding and supportive of her instead of being a homophobe?” her aunt questions her mother angrily. 

“Sometimes I wonder why you’re like this, why my cousin is such a person? I’ve never asked anything more but for you to treat Yerim better. However, you’ve been doing everything that goes against my wishes,” her aunt continues as anger rises in her like a tide.

“Yerim has nothing but the sweetest to everyone she’s met. She’s been very understanding and has been trying to mend your relationship with her before she left a few years ago but you haven’t been putting in any effort into wanting to repair the broken relationship you have. Instead of doing that, you chose to destroy my relationship with Yerim. Just how cruel can you be to do that to your only daughter?!” 

Hyejoo turns to Yerim and holds the girl close to her, shielding her from her mother. She feels Yerim shaking in her arms as she cries quietly to herself, her heart shatters when she hears Yerim’s quiet sobs. 

“I now wish for nothing more but you to leave Yerim and every one of us here alone. Go live the life that you’ve always wanted and forget about Yerim. I’ll be Yerim’s mother and do a much better job than you’re doing right now, you don’t deserve to be called her mother when you didn’t play a mother figure in her life. Leave now and I never want to see you again!” her aunt yells as she points at the lift. 

Yerim’s mother turns to give Yerim and Hyejoo a glare before she turns to her own cousin. Shoving past her cousin, Yerim’s mother gives Yerim a last glance before she disappears behind the lift doors. Yerim’s aunt let out a relieved sigh once her cousin is out of their sight, she turns to Yerim and her heart drops at the sight of the broken girl.

“Oh Yerim,” Yerim’s aunt calls out as she rushes to the girl. Hyejoo lets go of Yerim and watch Yerim fall into her aunt’s arms. A small smile crawls onto her face as she watches the tearful hug, she’s glad everything is over.

“I’m sorry that I came so late,” her aunt says as she caresses her head. Yerim shakes her head and hugs her aunt tightly.

“Thank you,” Yerim’s aunt says as she looks at Hyejoo, who is watching quietly at the side. Hyejoo shakes her head and excuses herself to leave the pair alone. She walks back down the same corridor that leads her to Yerim’s grandmother’s ward. Her heart stops when she sees a group of doctors that surround the older woman, she feels the world stop moving when she hears what the doctor says.

“Patient declared deceased at 3.28 pm, please help inform the family of the deceased.”

-

Hyejoo and Yerim stand next to each other quietly in the temple. They watch Yerim’s aunt greet the visitor who has come to pay their respect to her late grandmother. The only sound Yerim can hear is the soft sobbing coming from Chaewon and Yeojin, she turns to them and engulfs them into her hug. Hyejoo watches quietly as she stands in line to pay her respect too. 

“Thank you for coming,” Yeirm’s aunt says as she returns the bow. Hyejoo nods her head and burns a joss stick before sticking it in the joss stick pot. 

“Don’t mention it,” Hyejoo says as she stands up. Her eyes land on Yerim who is comforting her cousins, she wonders if Yerim’s coping well with the sudden loss. Everyone couldn’t say goodbye to the old woman before she passed on in her sleep peacefully. 

“Hyejoo,” Yerim’s aunt calls for her and pulls her to the side. Hyejoo glances at Yerim before following the woman towards the exit of the temple. She looks down and sees Yerim’s aunt holding her hand tightly in hers, “Thank you for the other day.”

“Thank you for protecting Yerim when I failed to do so. I heard a lot about you from my mother, you’re a very nice person and I’m glad that Yerim’s in safe hands.”

“No no, you’ve mistaken me and Yerim,” Hyejoo laughs out softly, “we’re just friends...I lied about being her girlfriend so I’m in a better position to protect Yerim.”

“I think you really meant it,” Yerim’s aunt let out a soft chuckle, “I saw it in your eyes and heard it from your tone.”

“Uhm…” Hyejoo trails off with a red face, she scratches the back of her neck shyly. 

“I know you like our Yerimmie a lot and I know Yerim likes you a lot too, are you going to work on it someday?” Yerim’s aunt asks out and this makes Hyejoo’s small smile fall off her face.

“She wants to leave, I don’t want to hold her back from doing what she really wants. Yerim’s happiness is mine,” Hyejoo sighs out softly as she leans against a pillar behind her. 

“I’m not going to give you the responsibility to help me make Yerim stay but I hope you’ll say something for me to stop her.” Hyejoo nods her head watch Yerim’s aunt walk away from her. Before she sees the woman disappear from her side, she hears Yerim’s aunt say, “Thank you for everything, we’re forever in debt to your kindness.”

-

It’s been a week since Yerim’s grandmother’s funeral, Hyejoo hasn’t talked to Yerim or seen the girl. Ever since Hyejoo dropped Yerim off at her grandmother’s place, she has never seen Yerim leaving the house. Every night, she’ll see light coming out of Yerim’s room and it wouldn’t go off until dawn. Hyejoo wonders if Yerim’s eating and sleeping properly. 

She stands in front of the wooden oak door with Yerim’s favourite food in her hand, her hand reaches out to knock on the door. It takes a while before the door opens and reveals a tired-looking Yerim. The disorientated look and dishevelled hair that Yerim has make her heart shatter into millions of pieces.

“Yerim…” Hyejoo calls for the girl softly, her hand reaches over to cup Yerim’s cheek. She wipes the fresh tear on Yerim’s cheek, she wonders how long the girl has been crying.

“I’m okay,” Yerim forces a smile on her face as she pulls Hyejoo’s hand from her face. She turns around and walks into the living room where the floor is covered with used tissue paper. 

“No, you’re not,” Hyejoo argues as she places the food on the dining table before joining Yerim on the sofa. She watches Yerim pull her legs up to her chest and rest her chin on her kneecaps as she stares out into the open with a dazed look.

“Look at me,” Hyejoo speaks softly as she stands up to stand in front of Yerim. Yerim looks up at Hyejoo and feels Hyejoo holding her hand before making her stand up. She feels herself getting led into her own room and watches Hyejoo sit down on her bed before patting down on the space next to her.

“Lay your head here,” Hyejoo instructs as she pats on her lap. Yerim nods her head weakly and rests her head on Hyejoo’s lap, she curls up into a ball by Hyejoo’s side.

“Before my mom passed on, she wrote me a song. A song that will stick with me and help me cope with her passing even till now,” Hyejoo shares with a fond smile, her hand combs through Yerim’s hair gently.

“She tells me that no matter what happens in life, as long as I sing this song everything will be better soon. So now, I want to share with you this song. I want to spread the love that the song carries to you and help you cope with the loss of your grandmother,” Hyejoo finishes with a soft kiss on Yerim’s forehead, this makes Yerim wear a small smile on her face. 

“Remember me,” Hyejoo sings out softly as she pats Yerim’s head, “though I have to say goodbye.”

“Remember me, don't let it make you cry~” Yerim shut her eyes as she let Hyejoo’s song mend her broken heart and lulls her to sleep from her soothing voice.

_For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart_

_I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart_

_Remember me, though I have to travel far_

_Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar_

“Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be,” Hyejoo sings with her eyes shut, “Until you're in my arms again, remember me.”

Hyejoo opens her eyes again and looks down to see Yerim sleeping quietly on her lap. She tucks the loose strands of hair off Yerim’s face and sees the small smile Yerim wears on her face, she smiles at that. Lifting Yerim’s head gently, she stands up and gingerly places Yerim’s head back on her pillow. Hyejoo tucks Yerim into bed before turning off the lights, she walks out and lets out a sigh once she sees how messy the house is. 

She ties her hair up into a ponytail before going to grab a plastic bag to contain the rubbish. It takes her a few hours to clean up the place, she’s glad the house has returned to its original state. She plops down on the sofa as she stares at the ceiling. Seeing how broken and sad Yerim looks, she wonders if she should keep Yerim by her side.

 _Is letting her go a better idea?_ Hyejoo wonders quietly to herself.

_I don’t want her to grieve like this for a long time...maybe letting her leave again can help her heal herself._

A soft sigh escapes her mouth as she drops her head into her hand. It's been close to a year since she has known Yerim, she has watched Yerim’s ups and downs moments from the girl’s side. Her feelings for Yerim have only grown deeper as time passes by, not once did it wavered. She has been thinking a lot about it to herself. If she wants Yerim to be happy, she would have to bottle her feelings for the girl and let the girl go. 

And she plans to do just that.

_As long as Yerim’s happy, I’m happy._

-

Yerim stands in front of her open luggage, she stares at the clothes that she has packed in. After waking up from a good night's sleep after so long, Yerim wakes up to see a letter from Hyejoo by her bedside. She sits up and opens the letter, she has no idea what to say after reading the letter but to cry quietly to herself.

_Don’t be afraid anymore, your mother won’t come and look for you again._

_Don’t be sad again, that’s the last thing your grandmother wants to see from you._

_Don’t be scared to leave again, I know that’s what you really want._

_I’m not sure if you’ve finally found your answer to what ‘family’ and ‘home’ means to you but I sure have after knowing you and talking to you._

_You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met by far after a long time and I wish nothing more but for you to be happy again._

_Leave whenever you want but know that when you want to come back, everyone is waiting for you._

_Your aunt, Chaewon and I will wait for you patiently and welcome you back with open arms._

_Do what you think is best for you, no one will stop you again._

Yerim places the folded letter on top of her folded clothes before she turns to the little music box that she has seen in Hyejoo’s room before. She picks the musical box up and she wears a small smile on her face when she hears the song Hyejoo had sung to her once. After the song ends, a small note falls out of the musical box. Yerim frowns at that and picks up the letter, she opens it and she raises an eyebrow upon seeing what’s written on it.

_I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart_

_Stay Safe Yerim, I hope to see you again._

Yerim’s smile falls off her face as she places the small note back into the music box. Hyejoo came over yesterday to help her pack her stuff after she told the girl that she plans to leave again. Though Hyejoo sounds supportive of her decision, her eyes showed sadness in them. It's like Hyejoo didn’t want her to leave at all. Yerim doesn’t know why Hyejoo isn’t openly stopping her but going along with her choice, she could only wonder why. Hyejoo must have left the musical box behind for her when she’s busy clearing the other rooms. She places the musical box in her bag and closes her luggage before zipping it up. 

Yerim walks out of her room with her coat in one hand and her luggage in the other. It’s been a year since she has come back and now she’s leaving again. A sad sigh escapes her mouth as she looks around, she’s going to miss the place. The place where she created so many beautiful and painful memories and the place that she grew up in. She’s just glad that she’s able to see this place again and spend enough time with her grandmother before she left. Wearing a small smile on her face, she picks up her luggage and turns to leave. 

Once she steps out of her house, she sees Hyejoo waiting for her outside. She gives Hyejoo a small smile before walking with the girl to the elevator. Silence falls between them as none of them knows what to talk to each other, they could only enjoy each other’s companionship. Once the elevator door opens, Hyejoo walks with Yerim to the carpark. The two of them get into Hyejoo’s car and the car ride to the airport is silent. Yerim looks out of the window while Hyejoo has her eyes trained on the road, her grip around the steering wheel tightens. 

It takes a while before the two of them arrive at the airport, Hyejoo walks Yerim to the departure. She returns Yerim’s luggage to the girl and waves her hand awkwardly at the girl. Yerim gives her a small smile as she reaches over to pull Hyejoo into her tight hug. Hyejoo chews on her bottom lip as she tries to stop herself from crying, she’s really letting go of Yerim. Yerim pulls back from the hug and lets out a soft chuckle when she sees Hyejoo’s nose scrunch up from trying to stop herself from crying.

“Thank you for everything Hyejoo,” Yerim says as she pulls out something from her pocket and holds Hyejoo’s hand in hers, “thank you so much for sticking by my side and making me feel so happy.”

“I wish that you’ll find your own happiness and continue to spread the joy you have done to me to others,” Yerim finishes as she leans forward to give Hyejoo a small peck on the girl’s cheeks. She ruffles Hyejoo’s hair and lets out a chuckle when she hears Hyejoo let out a soft cough. 

“I’ll miss you a lot,” Hyejoo sniffs as she holds onto Yerim’s hand in hers, this would be the last time she holds Yerim’s hand. 

Just as Yerim wants to say something, the announcement for her to board her plan is heard in the airport. Yerim lets out a soft sigh, she’s leaving everything behind again. She turns to Hyejoo and pulls the girl into another quick hug before letting go. Hyejoo feels Yerim’s hand slip out of hers as she watches Yerim enter the departure hall. She waves her hand at Yerim when she sees the girl waving her hand at her with a smile on her face. 

Hyejoo stands outside of the airport terminal, a soft sigh escapes her mouth. She looks down at her clasp hand and sees a piece of note on her palm. She opens up the note and she slaps a hand over her mouth when she finishes reading what is written on the paper.

_Thank you Hyejoo, I’m really thankful for everything that you’ve done for me and my family._

_I don’t know how long I’ll be gone but just know that you’ll always have a special place in my heart._

_For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart_

_I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart._

_I love you Hyejoo, I wish nothing more from you but for you to be happy._

Hyejoo looks up with tears in her eyes as she watches Yerim’s plane fly in the sky. She wipes her tears away and waves her hand at the aeroplane, her heart finally at ease after knowing Yerim feels the same way towards her. 

“I love you too Yerim.”

-

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Three years have passed and Yerim finds herself back in Korea. She makes her way to her aunt’s place first before going back to her grandmother’s old apartment. A soft sigh is heard from her mouth when the familiar black wooden door is gone, it means that Hyejoo has moved out. Her grandmother's place has also been sold to another elderly couple and what she heard from them, Hyejoo has moved out for more than two years. Yerim has no idea how to contact Hyejoo after losing Hyejoo’s number, she can only hope Hyejoo’s at the same place where she first met her.

Yerim walks out of her apartment building and into the busy streets of Seoul. The streets are decorated with decorations for the lunar new year. She watches as everyone donning a beautiful hanbok while she dons formal attire. Walking down the streets of her neighbourhood, she passes by more people donning their hanbok. She wonders to herself if she should do the same since it’s been a while since she last wore her hanbok. 

Yerim walks into the same marketplace her grandmother has asked her to go to get the stuff that she wants. However, she’s not there to buy anything but there to find the familiar rice cake shop that she visited. As she walks deeper into the market, she spots the place where the rice cake shop is located. A sad smile crawls onto her face when she sees a note stuck on the door of the closed rice cake shop.

_Space for rent, please contact XXX if interested._

“She’s not here too,” Yerim thoughts out loud as she turns back around to leave the marketplace. She ignores the pain in her chest as she continues her journey to look for Hyejoo, she makes her way to Heejin and Hyunjin’s cafe. Pushing open the door of the cafe, she’s greeted by a familiar face behind the counter. Yerim rushes to Jinsol and Jung eun tending the store, she greets the two older women cheerfully.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve last seen the two of you!” Yerim pouts when she feels herself getting pulled into a group hug.

“Yeah, it’s been a little more than three years?” Jinsol says as she turns to Jung eun and sees Jung eun nodding her head, “you’ve grown even more beautiful.”

“Why are the two of you here?” Yerim questions, wondering why the couple isn’t at their shop but Heejin and Hyunjin’s cafe.

“Heejin and Hyunjin had to go to their third cafe opening so we offered to lend them a helping hand to tend the store today,” Jung eun informs with a proud smile. 

“Yeah, they all grow up so fast,” Jinsol fakes crying and it makes Yerim and Jung eun laugh. Jinsol wears a small smile as she looks at Yerim, she wonders if the girl has met Hyejoo.

“Have you seen Hyejoo?” Jinsol asks Yerim who’s smile drops off her face. Yerim turns to Jinsol and shakes her head sadly, Jung eun and Jinsol pouts at that.

“She’s doing well, don’t worry about her. Hyejoo is a big girl,” Jung eun comforts Yerim and ruffles the girl’s hair, earning her a small smile from the girl.

“I’ll get going now, I hope I’ll find her somewhere!” Yerim gives the two older women a small smile before she leaves the cafe.

Yerim continues making her way around her neighbourhood, she walks aimlessly hoping to find Hyejoo somewhere in a random shop that she doesn’t know that she’ll be in. She walks by the park where she first has her heart-to-heart talk with Hyejoo, a fond smile appears on her face. The afternoon breeze blows past her, she feels her hair flying up in the air. The flowers that grow along with the street dance with the wind, that’s the power of spring for you.

Yerim makes her way to the other park that is located an hour away from where she is, she takes a cab and makes her way there. Once she reaches the park, she walks to the bicycle rental shop and rents herself a bicycle. She looks down at the purple bicycle and hops on it. Cycling slowly, Yerim cycles down the same route Hyejoo has brought her before. She passes by the familiar scenery, her heart hopes that Hyejoo’s by her side. 

Yerim cycles along the same bridge that leads her to Jinsol and Jung eun unnie’s chocolate store. She decides to take a short break and hops off her bicycle. Her arms rest on the ledge of the bridge as she stares at the setting sun, her bicycle rests against the wall by her side. She pulls out Hyejoo’s letter for her from three years ago.

_I hope to see you again too Hyejoo, where are you?_

“Where are you Hyejoo?” Yerim questions out loud, her eyes staring at the blue sky as the world purples down slowly into darkness. The stars are out, twinkling in the sky. Just as she’s about to leave, she hears a voice behind her.

“You should go and return the bicycle soon, if not you’ll have to pay extra for using it for such a long time.”

Yerim whips her head back and her eyes widen when she sees Hyejoo standing not far from her. The girl wears a big black coat and has a smile on her face as she walks to Yerim. Yerim’s lip curls up into a pout as she tries to stop herself from crying tears of joy.

“I’m here Yerimmie,” Hyejoo laughs out as she feels a pair of hands on her coat and feels herself falling into Yerim’s arms. 

“I missed you!” Yerim cries out as she hugs Hyejoo tightly. Hyejoo laughs out softly as she rubs her hand up and down Yerim’s back to comfort the girl.

“Where did you go? Haseul’s shop is gone and you’ve moved out,” Yerim asks as she pulls back from the hug but her arms are still around Hyejoo’s body.

“I’ve moved back to stay with my other mom, I’m working with her to write songs in her own entertainment company. I missed being with that old pal,” Hyejoo grins at Yerim. The past three years, Hyejoo went back to her mother Sooyoung’s side. She has written many songs for the singers in her mother’s entertainment company, some of her songs are inspired by her relationship with Yerim and she’s glad those songs are doing well on the billboards. 

“You should go see my old pal someday, she’ll love to see you!” Yerim laughs at that, she nods her head and turns to look at the night sky. Her arms wrap around Hyejoo’s waist as she leans her head on the girl’s shoulder, the two of them savour each other’s company. 

“How have you been?” Hyejoo asks and Yerim looks up to look at the girl, “I’ve been doing well, I came back a while ago and I’m currently living alone near my aunt’s place.”

“That’s good to hear, glad to know that you’re doing alright.”

“Mmm,” Yerim nods her head as she lets out a contented sigh.

“Can you sing to me your mother’s song again? I missed hearing you sing them,” Yerim requests and Hyejoo looks down at the girl.

“You remember the song?” 

“Yeah, they remind me of you...I sing them whenever I feel homesick,” Yerim smiles softly to herself and it makes Hyejoo’s heart flutter. 

“Alright,” Hyejoo clears her throat and starts singing her mother’s song to Yerim, “Remember me, though I have to say goodbye.”

  
  
  
  


“Until you're in my arms again, remember me~” Hyejoo finishes with a small smile on her face, she looks down and sees Yerim looking at her with heart eyes. 

“You like it that much?” Yerim nods her head quickly. 

“Then I’ll sing them more often to you,” Hyejoo coos as she ruffles Yerim’s hair. 

The two of them continue to enjoy the night sky in each other's arms. Silence falls between them as they savoured each other’s company, it’s been a while since they could do that. 

“Hey hyejoo,” Yerim calls out suddenly and it gets Hyejoo to look down at her, “remember you said you weren’t sure whether I found the meaning to ‘family’ and ‘home’?” 

Hyejoo nods her head and feels Yerim stepping away from, “have you found the meaning of those two words?”

“I have found the meaning of ‘family’ but not ‘home’ yet,” Yerim sighs as she rests her arms on the ledge behind her. Hyejoo frowns as she steps towards the girl with a tilt of her head, she wonders why the girl hasn’t found the meaning after so long.

“However, I’ve now found the meaning of ‘home’!” Yerim starts with a smile on her face, she holds Hyejoo’s hand in hers and lifts them. 

“And the meaning of ‘home’ is this!” Yerim holds Hyejoo’s hand behind her neck and lets them rest there while she pulls Hyejoo closer to her by her waist.

“I’m at home now!” Yerim announces with a big grin on her face and it causes Hyejoo to turn red.

“I’m your home?” Hyejoo asks shyly with a red face and Yerim nods her head quickly.

Resting her head on top of Hyejoo’s chest, Yerim hears Hyejoo’s fast-beating heart, “You’ll forever be my home and my family.”

Hyejoo wears a big smile on her face as she melts into Yerim’s hug, her hold around Yerim tightens. She pats Yerim’s head as she stares at the twinkling stars in the sky, she’s glad to have Yerim back by her side again. More importantly, she’s glad she helped Yerim find her meaning of ‘family’ and ‘home’. 

The end.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all have enjoyed reading this fic! If you read closely, you'll probably be able to guess what's my next upcoming work! I'll not promise any fluff work for now because I can never deliver full fluff fic without some angst here and there hehe! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know how you feel by commenting below! Comments and Kudos are appreciated!  
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